Ah yes, pool in San Andreas: I played it at first, and it was when I didn't really understand the rules. But I tried it again in this very inn from the Las Venturas desert, it now makes full sense and I like it alot. I don't really use trick shots, just full power, I lose often, but I get lucky if the other guy hits black in the pocket. Not a bad minigame, good like horse gambling.

As for the invites, they come from 2 of my favorite demos on the OPM disc last month: the Japanese port Katamari Damacy and the new Pandemic release, Mecernaries. Yes, it's quite fun to start small with your ball, then grin with satisfaction as you pick up things you once dwarfed. The problem is, it's hard to find, I tried finding it once and I couldn't, at least it's only 20 bucks. Mecernaries is as the commercial says, a "playground of destruction". There's nothing more awesome than after blowing up a gate and 2 towers with a carpet bomb, seeing the Koreans ride their little small jeep right toward you, but then you pull out your RPG and blow them sky high. And I mean SKY high. Boxes, anything hit big, will go airplane-high. It's great.

Well, I saw 1 episode of 24: Not bad at all. I'm a little confused as to what time it comes on. I was told Mondays at 9 PM. That's the same time as Monday Night Raw for me. As for other nights, Thursdays is MXC night like I may have said. More tonight, maybe a new episode, but the Bush vs. Kerry episode had a good Kery insult I thought: John Kerry looks like Herman Munster! To which was rebutted: Yeah, but he's got 3 Purple Hearts!

Well, looks like tomorrow is likely not going to be a snow day. Sigh. Need a break from work.

After the championship games are all said and done, it ends up being the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles from the AFC and the NFC, respectively. The Eagles won in a very convicing fashion, with a 27-10 margin over the visiting Atlanta Falcons in very close weather. Many volunteers in Philly worked very hard to get the snow out of the stands and the field and it certainly helped. As for the Patriots, they overcome a mid-season loss and dominated Pittsburgh 41-27. Big Ben the Rookie ended up throwing for 3 INT's, including one on the first play from scrimmage. Man, these Patriots continue to win, when will they be stopped. So, on February 6 in Jacksonville, Super Bowl XXXIX, it will be the Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots. The Pats will probably get the favorite from the oddsmakers.

Once again, Tennessee beats Kentucky. This time, women's basketball. It was around a 20-point lead at halftime by the Vols and they win by 18. Sigh.

In San Andreas, I now have 45.45 percent in 85 hours. I'm at a crossroads however, on one end, I still have Zero's Supply Lines mission which I have not attempted in a while. Now, after finishing a few for Toreno, I'm now on flying school. Man, that's tricky to fly. Also, it's way more fun to just go real fast. And I've only found 2 horseshoes. Man, whoever hid these items in San Andreas is tricky.

Yes, it's another snow day. This one was rather surprising, the snow was starting to melt due to some sun yesterday, guess it's the luck of the day. I don't want to miss all the days though, I don't want to go through June.

Kentucky started out slow but quickly cruised to a 89-58 victory over LSU in Rupp Arena, making that the 2nd West team to go down in defeat and improves them to 5-0 in SEC play, the only undefeated team in the conference. And we also saw play from Joe Crawford, who changed his mind on his transfer a week ago. Next up for the Cats is hated foe Tennessee in Knoxville at Thompson-Bolling Arena or something to that accord. Tennessee has Chris Lofton, a former Mason County (Ky.) standout and Scooter McFadgon. Tennessee is not one of the best, but as I've said, they can pull out big wins, like Florida and Miss. State, though Louisville handled them 80-58 in the same building that UK made their big comeback against the Cards.

And for the UK women, who's next? That's right. Tennessee again. Contrary to the men Vols, the women Vols are much superior, though they have been on a bit of a struggle, down to No. 10 for the first time in ages. The story is Mickie DeMoss was Pat Summitt's assistant at Tennessee for around 20 years, and she went to coach us at UK, then brought in a good recruiting class for us instead. It seems to have payed off, we're 13-6 (2-2) instead of losing games by 50 points. Today, we go to Knoxville (where else?) to hopefully put up another good fight (we only lost by 10 last year in Memorial Coliseum (UK's old basketball arena before Rupp Arena came along).

There was 4, now there's 3. Who fell from the unbeaten? Kansas, of course. Now in a heartbreaker, but a 83-62 smashing at Villanova. Now, if that doesn't spell OVERRATED, I don't know what does. Villanova even had them up by 30 at one point. The thing is, Villanova almost beat another unbeaten, Boston College. The other unbeatens, along with BC: No. 1 Illinois and Dook, or Duke. Duke had no problems beating a dangerous spoiler in Florida State, who had beaten them the last 2 times in Tallahassee. Illinois used OT to survive a scare from Iowa at home to improve to 19-0. Next up for them is Wisconsin at WISCONSIN. This should prove interesting. Unbeaten Illinois fighting a team that has one of the longest win streaks in the nation. And Duke has yet to play UNC or Wake. Let's just see who's unbeaten after that. Oh, and the Georgia men, not the Georgia women (though we beat them too) beat Vanderbilt. Stinks for Vandy.

Do the storylines end? Of course not. It's Championship Sunday. 4 teams. The Philadelphia Eagles. The Atlanta Falcons. The New England Patriots. The Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only do you have the in-game storylines, you have the board storylines. Most of the Sports Lounge want the Falcons to win, but jekyll is really hoping for a win in the 4th try. You got fans of all 4, it's going to be big.

Well, instead of the usual "one in a crowd" school days, in a suprising turn of luck, I find myself on a Snow Day today, and on Friday, which make the 2nd straight 3-day weekend (MLK Day Monday last week). So, I just got up at 12:30, I did have some McDonald's ready for me, but I can't eat dinner when I get up. Maybe breakfast.

My computer was moving slower and slower so my dad helped me use a system restore and deleting cookies, which helped it a lot. Plus, I can put my acclerator on, but I have to take it off to read journal comments and my personal messages. I don't why, but it's not really that bad, it's better with it. And it's doing good now.

Boy, Kentucky sure stunk up Oxford on Wednesday. Man, they really stunk. And yet, they won 53-50, same as Louisville. Their 1st half performance was best summed up by my dad- "they played like a high school team- a bad high school team"- and I admit I was worried. But UK saved the day. Next up from Ole Miss is vs. LSU in good old Rupp Arena as we try to remain defeated (it'll be harder than the 16-0 SEC season in 2002-03).

And how about the way Alabama KICKED the crap out of Mississippi State. Wow. 98-49! And the Bulldogs were ranked in the top 20! Alabama was between 20-25. I'll have to check were we play Alabama again. I hope that doesn't happen to us. Also, thanks to Tennessee for helping us get the SEC lead. Now, in about a week UK goes down to Knoxville and plays them. Tennessee isn't the best, but I admit they're a threat. Beating Miss. State and Florida isn't something a 6th place team does.

And... PLEASE, PLEASE: TAKE KANSAS OFF THE NO. 2 SPOT, they're winning, they may have beat us at home, but does a team that beats Vermont and Nebraska at home by single digits worthy of No. 2? They did beat Ga. Tech... at home by 2. Wait till Oklahoma State gets a hold of them. But the Cowboys struggle too, though. Hmmm.

Championship Sunday in the NFL: Hearts broken, celebration, excitement. Eagles-Falcons. Pats-Steelers. I was very surprised to see Pitt as the UNDERDOG AT HOME. The same team they handled easily on Halloween in the same place. It's probably due to last week's performances- Pitt's scare and NE's dominance. The Eagles and Falcons could be a close one considering the performances by them last week. Imagine if the Eagles lost AGAIN.. Philly would be a very bitter city.

Well, so far in my NFL Discussion Playoff Pick-Em's, I'm 6-2 with both losses coming on the Sunday late game. Right now, I've slated for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to win to the Super Bowl, but from there, it's a stumper. Hopefully I can get the best record.

In my gaming progress, starting with MGS3, I got to another factory where I killed another boss prematurely. But I had to take it back (3 days is too soon for anything to rent) but I'll get it in the near feature, in at least a month. In San Andreas, I "improved" to 43 percent in 84 hours. I just haven't been playing it much, it sometimes feel dull to just wander around and not find anything. I did complete one mission for Toreno, and I'm stuck on a truck jacking mission.

In the GBA, my Ms. Pac-Man score is still the 42,080. I wonder if anybody's ever did better than that. Probably. In Crash for GBA, I have gotten a few crystals and that's about it. It's pretty much Crash of the GBA from consoles. Same thing. That's about it for the GBA. Not much, I know.

And I did play Madden multiplayer with my friend. I was the Bengals and he was the Colts. I was up 40-6, and I let him come back to win 43-40. Not a big battle, but we're just playing around and we're probably not as good as the Madden Challenge bunch, but if it's fun, what wrong with that?

Till next time.

This question I've been debating in my head quietly for quite a while. Usually when you're on a day off, you sleep till you can't no more. But then you lose most of your day, then you have to go right back to work or school. Sleep is a strange thing with me. Usually when I have to go to sleep, I never feel tired, but on school mornings, I usually never want to wake up. I can't go to sleep or I can't wake up. Now, on vacations, I usually stay up late, and don't sleep till very late, but the thing is, I still get the same time awakeup, but different time frames. And if anybody in the middle of the night has seen TV, there is hardly anything on. Why can't I get to sleep? There's the usual suspects. Caffeine of course. I drink a lot of Coke, maybe too much. But it's so good to me, I can't resist. Another reason? Nerves. I usually get nervous or excited for alot of things. Who knows.

Another thing, homework on vacations. A fellow forumite and mod, Robbie_IV, has brought this up MANY times in his journal. I of course am against it. Why? Well, it takes into your free time of course. You go to school the whole week , then the few days you get off, school is involved at home. Now I know that they say it's important, but come on, we don't need it 24/7 every moment of our lives. I might have it a little easy, since it's high school, and Robbie's in college.

You know, I can really never relax. I don't like taking naps, unless I was unable to fall asleep the previous night. I always want to be doing something, getting something done, maybe that's why I like doing missions or finding something in San Andreas instead of just walking around, it seems more interesting. Snake Eater, I could make an exception. The exolosions and blowing up probes owns.

Well, I'm off to get some posting done, what with a slow computer, which I seem to be fighting a struggle of inner wit. It's like I'm taking frustation on it but I know it's the virus makers out there. Cyber terrorists I tell you.

Kentucky remains perfect at 3-0 in SEC play by defeating Georgia, a team that swept us last year, at Athens 76-55. Georgia, on the other hand, goes to 6-8, and winless in the SEC at 0-4. The Cats will now play 5 of 6 on the road, including Tennessee. Kentucky's record is now 12-2. Their next game is at Mississippi, or Ole Miss.

Kansas remains undefeated barely. Like I've said, they may have lost 0, but they hardly play any ranked teams, 3 others in the Big 12 (OK St., Oklahoma, and Texas), though they can't help that. But they barely beat us and teams like Vermont at HOME. Now, if Kansas moved down, who would be No. 2. UNC can't , now they lost to Wake Forest, so perhaps Wake Forest will move up to No. 2 followed by Duke (they'll lose to UNC or Wake I guarantee).

In my playoff picks, I'm 2 of 2 this week and to go 4 for 4, the Eagles and Colts need to win. Last week, I went 3-1 to tie with Raging Bull in the NFL Discussion tally. So now I'm 5-1. Not bad.

My MGS3 continues. I currently defeated Ocelot in a gun battle and I'm now in a cave that's very dark to see, yes, maybe even darker than San Andreas' streets at sunset. I have to use a cigar and it's pretty hard to get a grasp, but thankfully you have a map.

In the GBA, I continue Namco Museum. My best Ms. Pac Man score was 42,080. Too bad you can't save it. This version make the NES Pac-Man seem slow.

Madden and NCAA I'll still play once in a while, and the rest of the GBA games sometimes. Wario Ware I play for a quick fix, NES Metroid once or twice, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, I'm stuck on the last stage before the first Donkey Kong battle, Zero Mission I'm stuck on a little. Same with all the others, it seems like Ms. Pac Man consumes the most time, plus my dad and I like to play it (separate) to see who has the best record. I'm far ahead. Good ol' Ms. Pac Man.

I've decided to sort out my friend list of names that I added, but don't really see on the boards I go to. Just to say: no hard feelings. Not that I don't like you, it's just I don't see you often. Plus, I don't want to read a lot of journals, just of the people I know on fellow boards.

Sans a demo, I had no exprience with MGS3 till yesterday when I finally got a rental of it. Basically, it's just as good as the first 2. The graphics are of course awesome and maybe even better than MGS2. Instead of an industrial setting, you have the jungle. There are a lot of new advancements. The heal system, which is unique but not really revolutionary, but a good expansion than just using rations. And the camouflage system is pretty good, plus the suits are fun to look at during cutscenes. The backpack is pretty nice too, and switching items is simple.

The characters and cutscenes are top notch too. They're easily likeable characters, as for the cut-scenes, if you didn't like the longness before, your mind probably won't be changed. As for problems, the camera seems too far away compared to fellow stealth franchise Splinter Cell. And you might feel like the game's pace is even slower, but you're free to shoot-em-up when you get the chance.

Also, you see some familiar faces. Revolver Ocelot, the longhaired, mustached, revolver man from MGS1 and 2 is back, a lot younger however and more cocky. Plus, you see some origins of his antics. The other characters are familiar in their basis, like you have a colonel (Major Tom/Zero), a saver and info woman (Para-medic), weapons specialist (Sigint), and a female compatriot (EVA). The voice acting is great, and fun to listen to.

Keep in mind, this isn't really a full review. I have not exprienced any boss battles or am I deep into the game, but I will say this, try the Snake vs. Monkey minigame if you haven't, plus the funny talking before it, you get some references to other games.

Oh, and 3 more things:

The MGS3 themesong, IMO, is awesome.

There is a radio frequency for healing tunes from the 60's. Nice authenticity.

At the start of the game, choose I Like MGS2, you Raiden haters might get a little surprise.

I usually like to update this frequently, I just never got the thought to do it. I just don't talk a lot about other happenings than games and sports. Well, a lot has happened since January 5.

To start, Kentucky has won 2 and lost 1. They do start out 2-0 in the SEC which is always good, but the L is to the Kansas, No. 2 Kansas 65-59 in Rupp Arena. The wins were against South Carolina and Vanderbilt in Rupp too. Next we have SEC cellar dweller Georgia, who hasn't recovered from penalties. Meanwhile, hated Duke remains undefeated still, but as any college basketball fan knows, the ACC is PACKED. Georgia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest not only are ACC title contenders, but NCAA title contenders. Hopefully UNC can put a beating on Duke, or Wake Forest. I'm no fan of UNC but there are 2 things I respect them for: 1. Roy Williams I thinks deserves a least 1title before he is done. He has been to 2 and lost both, and I was rooting for Kansas in the 2003 NCAA Finals and 2. Duke beat-em-up!

On the subject of North Carolina, I refuse to believe Dean Smith is a better coach than Adolph Rupp. Why? Smith may have the record but by only 3 wins, Rupp has more titles, and Kentucky was always consistent every year in his tenure and still are. They don't win every year, but they're in the tourney. UNC may be the same, but the past few years were stinkers for them under Matt Doherty. And what's with the Dean Dome? I refuse to call that a dome. Rupp Arena is the correct term however. Well if Dean Dome sounds better, maybe I'll cut them some slack.

On to other hot sports now, the NFL playoffs are well underway. From my 4 picks last week, I won 3: the Rams, Jets, and Colts and Minnesota beat GB for the last one. I did want underdog Minnesota to really win more. Now, why in God's name would Moss get fined 10 grand for the FAKE MOON, the GB fans did it before. They know no fun.

This week, we got the Jets going to Pittsburgh, where they have never won. The Jets are no slouches, beating AFC West champ San Diego in OT on the road (I thought SD was a little overrated) and they did well against the Pats. I think it should be a good one. Then you have New England and Indy, a rematch of the 2004 AFC title game, same setting and all. Peyton returns, our NFL MVP again, interesting to see how he will bombard the Pats' secondary or if he will. Last year wasn't so good for him.

In the NFC, we have the hot Vikings going to Philly to face the real deal (not the practice squad we destroyed). No Moss vs. Owens as Terrell is still nursing the leg injuries. I think it could be a close one too. And Rams-Falcons seems close too. I can't really think of a clear cut winner. My picks will be Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.

Well, that's all for now, I'll try to expand on my entries more, I have a hot topic for later: MGS3 Impressions.