So Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween comes out tomorrow, and I'm stoked about it because I haven't had a damn thing to do all week. I get up, I go to work, I come home, I watch Attack of the Show, I play Secret of Evermore, then I go to sleep. This is the first time all week I've had the chance to actually DO something, and I'm pretty excited. I do have mixed feelings about the movie, as I'm a big slasher movie nut, and in particular of the Halloween movies. Truth be told, I just wanted another Halloween movie, not necessarily a remake. I'll confess, I'm one of the Halloween fans that likes the "Jamie Lloyd" Halloween movies (4, 5, and 6), though I still like the old ones too. I appreciate that they not only gave the series a fairly deep story, they also tried to explain things that made absolutely no sense in the first few movies... you know... Why is Michael invincible? Why was he so desperate to kill Laurie? What the hell was up with the "Samhain" ritual thing he drew in the school house? ... you know, that kinda stuff. They were corny, sure, but they were violent, funny, and most of all, had depth. I like that. So, yea I'm skeptical about this movie. I'm a big fan of Zombie's other works (at least as far his cinematographic works) and I'm sure he'll put a really creative twist on the movie. He wants to explore Michael Myers the man, and explain why he does what he does. I can appreciate that, as he wants to take a look at Michael's childhood, which we've never seen before. I mean, they didn't even do that with the "He's a tool of some cult" angle they took in the Jamie Lloyd movies. That's cool, and I can probably enjoy it if it's well done. It doesn't hurt that I have a huge crush on Scout Taylor-Compton either (the girl playing Laurie Strode). Anyway, that's all I have on my mind right now.

I've been playing Breath of Fire 1 and 2 like crazy. It's awesome. It actually got me away from the PS2.

I just finally put a wrap on my high school days. Confused? I know I know, I'm 22, I've graduated college, what the hell does that mean? I'll tell you: Once upon a time, I received a PS2 for Christmas ('02, I believe). I promptly purchased Final Fantasy X and played the LIVING HELL out of it. To this I even remember the evening I beat it: May 23rd, 2002 at 2:30-3:00 am-ish. The day of Graduation. However, I hadn't WANTED to beat it yet for a simple reason: I wanted to finish the sidequests. Frustration set in at not being able to finish a particular few, and I gave up... my interest in seeing the ending finally got the better of me. One particular sidequest sticks out in my mind more than the rest, due to the fact that I actually punched myself in the face because I couldn't complete it after approximately 200 tries: powering Tidus's Ultimate Weapon, the Caladbolg. Both the crest to give it a charge and the weapon itself are easy to find, but the sigil to bring it to fullpower is damn-near IMPOSSIBLE to obtain. Some of the GoW II guys may recall me complaining about this quest as an example of how tough Titan Mode is. For those who aren't in the know of the quest, I'll describe it: you train a chocobo. That's it. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. See, apparently in Spira, you train chocobos by running them around a bunch, collecting balloons and avoiding a bunch of killer swans trying to peck you to death. Anyway, you have to race another chocobo trainer, collecting balloons (which subtract 3 seconds from your race time) while avoiding swans (which add 3 seconds to your race time if they strike you... but what the trainer neglects to tell you is that they also cause you to stop in place stunned for almost two seconds, making it about 5 seconds). The race itself takes somewhere in the ballpark of 35 seconds to complete, which means you would have to collect at LEAST 12 balloons and not get struck to finish in the allotted time. Oh right, I forgot to mention that part: to get the sigil, you have to finish the race in under 0.0 seconds. Yea. Sounds fun right? Factor in the fact that you aren't actually controlling the damn chocobo so much as struggling to steer it and you can see trouble brewing. Yea. Think that sounds easy? YOU TRY IT. Gurantee you quickly deem it impossible. It's not, but it isn't fun. Like I said, 200 tries, easy. The closest I ever came was O.1 seconds. For four years, my save file sat, collecting metaphorical dust on my memory card, until the other day I came home from doing laundry and saw my brother playing the game in our living room... I sat down and started giving him some pointers to find stuff he hadn't yet, like the Shining Mirror, The Magus Sister's, etc. and before I knew it, I'd forgotten about Final Fantasy XII. After he left to go to band practice last night, I sat down and gave the game another go... I made a little sphere grid progress, but quickly grew bored and decided to go give some sidequests a shot. The Calm Lands were where I ended up, so I decided to give it a go, just for grins. 4 years without trying. It took me 4 tries yesterday. God I'm awesome. Now to do the "dodge 200 bolts of lightning" sidequest.

So here's a bunch of random insanity that's just bouncing around in my skull from after the weekend. My head may literally explode if I don't put it out there in the ether for someone to read.

1) The new Die Hard is REALLY freaking good. I mean it. There's no reason it should be good, but it is. I mean, I walked into that theater super cautiously, thinking I knew what I was getting into: John McClane is old, bald, and he quit smoking and drinking... he's a detective now, and he and Holly are FINALLY divorced (putting to bed a crappy sideplot from the previous two)... but on the downside, Justin Long is now his sidekick (as opposed to Reginald VelJohnson or Samuel L. Jackson... what were they thinking?) and the director has even gone on record as saying he intends the movie to be "Die Hard for a new generation!"...

I hate when they pull this kind of crap... it's like trying to make the X-Men movie for "non-comic" fans. It ain't going to happen... but then again, even I was a little annoyed when some idiot shouted corrections during X-2... such as the lovely "WHERE'S COLOSUS'S RUSSIAN ACCENT????". Moving on... I don't really care if he IS bedding Kate Beckinsale or not (and he is, which automatically makes him the frickin' man in my book), you don't screw with a formula that works! Luckily, it turns out this outrageous claim was just that: a claim. McClane hasn't lost a beat in his years since Die Hard With A Vengeance... he just drops a lot less F-Bombs. Heck, they even make fun of his dysfunctional family while barely mentioning Holly Genaro (who if I'm not mistaken, hasn't made an appearance since Die Harder): McClane's daughter Lucy (now played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead... *drools*) is a key-plot point in the movie, and is a total chip off the ol' McClane block. So what does the movie have in store for those willing to see it? Tons of explosions, over the top gun-fights, McClane demolishing a chopper with a police car (which you have to see to believe...), and a ballsy mocking of the 9/11 tragedy. They even talk about the previous movies, which is something you don't see too often with this kind of move.

Hell, McClane even broke out the "Yippee-Kai-Ee Mother****er"! That, I certainly did not expect from a PG-13 movie.

I was super happy, and I walked away not missing that $5. Go See It.

2) Likewise, Transformers was also awesome... but I didn't need to tell you that.

3) Poker is stupid. I go to work every week day at 8:30, so when you're brother's friends roll over at 11 o'clock at night for a few hours of Texas Hold 'Em, nothing good can result. The sound of chips clattering on the table will haunt me for weeks.

4) I smoke way too much. Thank God I quit drinking or I'd be in serious trouble.

5) Final Fantasy XII is taking over my life.

6) Don't ever move if you can help it. Ever. I mean it. Two weeks later and I'm still having to go back to my old place to pick up stuff... my apartment is completely cluttered with my stuff I just can't find places to put, and Ryan refuses to unpack his things, so there's clutter everywhere.

7) Don't ever move in with your brother. Ever.

I guess that's about it.

...that I just copied and pasted my reviews from Gamefaqs so they're viewable on Gamespot. Literally word for word. That's just how I roll.

In other news, I'm bored and I want to go home.

Ugh, I always hate starting a new blog 'cause I'm never quite sure how to begin.

So where to start?

Well, I finished moving into my new apartment finally... if my brother hadn't gotten caught with a tattoo and gotten his ass kicked out, I probably never would've been motivated to find a new place. I guess it's a reasonable excuse though, and the apartment IS nice... it's big, and the living room is much better suited for surround sound, so it makes a much better theater than the ol' place. All in all, I'd say it's good... still, how dumb is it that I'm such a nice guy I feel like I have to take care of Ryan?

Also, I'd like to point out that I'm addicted to two things at this time:

1) Saosin's new CD.

2) Final Fantasy XII

... okay, well three things:

3) Marlboro Smooths.

To say that Saosin's new CD is anything short of a pile of kick-ass is a sadistic understatement. Seriously. I preach about it to anyone who'll listen. I can just set it to repeat in the background while I'm doing whatever, and it never bores me. EVERY SONG IS AMAZING. I have the single from the CD, You're Not Alone up on my MySpace page, which you WILL check out if you know what's good for you... www.myspace.com/signsofgrey.

As for Final Fantasy XII... well, let's just say better late than never eh? Yes the game's been out for a year, and yes, I waited that long to pick it up. I'm a cheap-ass, what can I say? My friend Kevin finally talked me into it, and I decided one night to just go for it, so I ordered the Collector's Edition from Amazon, along with Cannibal Holocaust. I'm amazed by that game, and I can't really explain why just yet. There's absolutely no reason it should be as good as it is (and I'm far less than halfway through it). I can't quite place my finger on what makes it so good... the graphics? They're pretty and all, but I mean... well, would you marry a girl just because she's pretty? No, she'd need a personality, and this game's got it in spades. Every character has a background, which is something that a lot of the recent games (with the exception of the FFX collection) can't really claim in my opinion. Still, there's got to be more to it than that... and at this point, I think it may be the License Board and Gambit system. I custom built each character as a different "Class", if you will... Vaan a thief, Ashe a paladin, Penelo a Black Mage, etc. The Gambit system makes combat FUN again... I can't remember the last time I played an RPG and didn't eventually reach a point where I wanted to shout "****, another ****ing battle..."; this time around though, I don't even care. I love killing stuff. I seriously spent two days just levelling up, running around killing the same 4 Silicon Turtles in the Giza Plains for HOURS, collecting loot and stuff. I don't even care, it's just awesome... but maybe I should get back to actually playing the game now or something.

Oh yea, and I'm a smoker, deal with it.

But yea, that's the deal right now... my life is pretty much awesome.