Happy 4th of July to everyone. Hopefully you don't have to work today like I do. Hooray for working at a retail hardware store :(. Now to business.

So, after many months of thinking about buying a PSP...Monday and Tuesday where the days that I got myself set up with my new PSP. It took me two days, as Monday I ran in to check book problems (ie wrote first check at one store then was going to write another check at another store, but since I'm new with a check book they wouldn't let me do it). I ended up with the PSP and screen protectors. Thankfully I already had a game (Lumines) and a 32mb memory card from my first PSP (read these two posts to find out the old story). Tuesday instead of going with the check book i went with cash and got Daxter and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, along with a 2GB memory card and a Logitech case for my PSP to sit in. Thankfully, I've been having a better time with this one, so lets hope that I don't run into similar experiences like I did before...

In other news I updated my original post about Chris Benoit that just had the memorial picture. I replaced it with a link (if only I could get the embed thing to work :evil: )to aYouTube video that is somewhat erie because of the song, but is decently done. It looks at the good of Chris Benoit, not the bad like the rest of the media and even the WWE (not necessarily the superstars) look at it. Thankfully it looks like there may be reasons other than him just being messed up that led him to do it. With the arrest of his personal doctor, maybe some light can be shown on the tragedy and some closure can be had.

To me the greatest show ever made is Futurama. It was unfortunate that FOX could not find a way to make the show as successful as Cartoon Network was able to, otherwise it would have never been cancelled. But thanks to Cartoon Network and good DVD sales Futurama has been brought back from the dead and will continue in theaters this fall with a feature length movie, and will begin a new season on Comedy Central in 2008. While that is not new information I still decided to make a Top 5 list of my favorite Futurama episodes...something I've actually meant to do for awhile. For those that have seen the show you may agree or disagree, but these are my favorites. And for those that have never seen the show...go out and get the DVD's or watch Adult Swim from 10:30-11:30pm EST.

5. Space Pilot 3000 - The episode that started it all. While not the greatest episode of Futurama, it laid the foundation for what Futurama was. From big story parts that would later come into play throught the series to even some hidden secrets that people had to look for to notice. Obviously the place to start for newcomers to the series.

4. Xmas Story - A robot santa...more believable then the "real" Santa. But a robot santa that has been programmed to be too strict and instead of bringing presents to everyone, brings pain...hilarious. The episodes was so "bad" in FOX's opinion that they refused to play the follow up Christmas episode the following year because it was too violent. Who cares, a violent santa makes for great TV.

3. Godfellas - When the Planet Express ship gets attacked by Space Pirates, Bender accidentally gets shot of a torpedo tube where he was sleepy (weird yes). Unfortunatley the ship was going at full speed when they shot him so he was going faster than the ship and Fry and Leela would never be able to catch him. Throughout Bender's never ending journey he becomes god of a small race of people that become stuck to him during in a asteroid field. While he tries to be a good god he ultimately fails as the people on his front and back end up having a nucleur war killing everyone. Meanwhile Fry never gives up trying to find god, going so far as to imprisoning a group of monk's (with Leela's help)just to use their audioscope that the have to find the real god. Bender's drifting through space ends when he ends up meeting a being that is assumed to be god. After awhile Fry accidentaly finds Bender and the being sends Bender back to earth after hearing the message from Fry as he was leaving the room. Overall a good Bender episode and a good little lesson in there to "To not rely on people to make things happen for you. Go make sure it happens and do it yourself." (not actually what was said at the end of the episode but basically the message that was delivered.

2. Roswell That Ends Well - Time travel? Yea, the makers of the show said they were never going to do it but they did it anyways...and to good effect.After a freak accident between a supernova and Fry putting an oven cook popcorn canister in the microwave, Fry and company end up back in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico and become the reason for the whole UFO crash that was reported in actual history (and Zoidberg was the captured alien). This is another overall story heavy episode as it ends up explaining why Fry is impervious to the brains' powers (don't ask, watch the show). After being told not to do anything to affect the past, Fry ends up killing his supposed grandpa while trying to protect him and ends up sleeping with his grandma...making him his own grandpa, weird isn't it. But this also sets up future episodes and is just an overall action packed fun episode.

1. Jurrasic Bark - Probably the most emotionally charged epsiode in all of Futurama (although Luck of the Fryrish and Leela's Homeworld come real close), Jurrasic Bark is my favorite episode. The show takes place somewhat in Fry's past and his future about his long lost dog Seymour. After finding Seymour on display at a museum Fry gets his fossilized dog back and is told by the Professor that he can have it cloned. All this makes Bender jealous as Fry is spending more time with his dog instead of him causing Bender to try and make Fry jealous of him. Bender results to trying to destroy Seymour before it is cloned, but ultimately helps save the fossil from being destroyed by jumping in after it after realizing he wants Fry to be happy. After the fossil is recoverd from the lava pit, Seymour's age was determined to be 14, causing Fry to stop the cloning process do to the fact that Seymour lived a long life after Fry was gone. Between the flashbacks to Fry and Seymour in the 90's tothe ending of the episodewhich shows Seymour waiting in front of the Pizza place that Fry worked at until Seymour died it will leave you in tears, especially if you have or have lost a pet. Overall if you only see one episode that shows how great Futurama is,Jurassic Bark is the episode that you want to see. It shows the comedic side of the show, the history that the show has throughout it, and even the emotional effects that the show can deliver to the audience.

I was going to make a follow up post some time yesterday about the whole tragedy with Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and his 7 year old son...but couldn't really find the words to do it. It's one of those things that even though all the proof is there you still don't want to believe and probably won't for some time. But after time things will make sense, hopefully.

So to start, what Chris Benoit did was horrible. There is no bright side or reason for killing anyone, family or not. Not only did he kill his wife, but he also killed his 7 year old son, which is dispicable. And to top it all of he took his own life, a cowards way out. It hurts to say that last part, but it is true. Whatever his motives were and what state of mind he was in, there is no reason for anything like that to happen.

Saying that, as I said in the beginning I still find it hard to believe. Sure, I never met the guy, but the way people talked about him and the way he was with his family...it's hard to believe he would go that far. Sure there were problems, seperation and restraining orders filled in 2003 by his wife Nancy that were later withdrawn, but nothing that ever justifies what was done. And it just seemed so sudden. He was on ECW on Tuesday and then all of a sudden this happened. Makes you wonder if mentally he was there when it happened. But whatever the case, what done is done and it can never be undone. The facts are there and they will be there forever.

Oddly, I am a little bitter at the WWE for how they have handled this whole situation. At first they held the three hour tribute to Chris Benoit and it was a great sentiment. They posted pictures and videos on their site and everything. Then once the facts started to come in they removed everything, removed his merchandise, and even apologized for holding the tribute show for him. But I hope someone realizes over there that what they did was not glorify or even approve of what he had done the last few days he was alive. They paid tribute to what he had done before that, and that was entertain the people by giving it all in the ring. The WWE should not be dwelling on only what he did over the weekend, they should be remembering the good that Chris Benoit did over his wrestling career. People don't want to dwell on the bad, at least healthy people don't, so they should put up the videos and pictures. Let the people remember the good of Chris Benoit, not that bad. Hopefully someone will realizes that and they rethink how they are handling the situation.

My condolences to the Benoit family, friends, and coworkers for the loss of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and his son Daniel.

Tribute Video

• -The news that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is racing for Hendrick shouldn't worry people too much. It only means that he'll get better. And for those that are upset because Jr. is now on the team that Gordon drives for and remembers the "rivalry" between Gordon and Earnhardt before Earnhardt's untimely death are really narrow sighted.Sure there was some heated on track battles but Icite a article from NASCAR.com as a little wake up call.
  http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/04/25/jgordon.dearnhardtjr.dearnhardt.flag/index.html
• -The new show Lil Bush is garbage. Now I'm not a hardcore Bush supporter or even a slight supporter. I do get annoyed by liberals that say crap about him when all they do is just complain but have no solutions or any real point. So I thought Lil Bush would at least be a funny spoof on Bush and associates...but it's not. The show just isn't funny. Even if they wouldn't have used Bush, it still wouldn't be funny. I hope it doesn't even make it to the third episode as it is a waste of everyone's time.
• -Technology is a weird thing. Seems everyone has a cell phone or mp3 player, or both...except me. My dad just got an iPod for Father's day which I had to help him get everything up for him. Both my parents and even my grandma (who doesn't even know how to turn on a computer) have a cell phone. Just weird that people that have no real clue how to use things unless explained to them by someone who doesn't even have either one of them for themselves. Not that I can't afford them, but cell phones to me are useless, and I just haven't gotten around to getting an mp3 player...although have been thinking about getting a PSP again, so that wouldsolve that problem.

More to come

Although Forza 2 is a great racing game, one of the best features is the auction house. Being able to bid on cars with custom paint jobs or even selling your own custom car to make some extra cash. The best thing though is just seeing all the paint schemes that people have created. It's almost amazing what some people have been able to create with the editor. Some of it seems impossible almost...like the 300 Fairlady that I have. But there are also it's downsides, but I'll start with the good parts

Good
-All the different types of paint schemes. From anime, to sports teams, to NASCAR paint schemes, to some very unique designs...there is something for everyone.
-The ability to buyout auctions incase you don't want to risk losing at bidding. I was stupid when I first started using the auction house and lost a Futurama car that I really wanted. But since then everytime there is a car that I want I'll usually just buy it out instead of bidding for it.
-Getting expensive cars for cheap. I was able to pick up a Ferrari 430 today for about 50K less then what I could have gotten it for at the dealership in the career mode.
-The satisfaction of getting a car with a really cool paint scheme. It's just great when you win an auction with a car that has a paint scheme that you want.

Bad
-Seems everyone wants to put their paint schemes on Nissan Fairlady Z's. I'm sick and tired of searching the auction house only to have half the cars being Fairlady's...enough already.
-All the South Park cars. I refuse to buy any of them just because there are too damn many of them. I swear to god if it is not a Fairlady that shows up when you search for cars, it'll be a car with some South Park character on them (or Scarface).
-The cars with "naked" characters on them. Come on folks, are you really that immature. There are young kids playing this game so be responsible. (although I did buy a car that had a chick that was basically naked but covering herself up...not that it is any better, but at least it shows some restraint)
-Cars with racist or vulgar things on them. Kinda goes with the nudity part above, but I've seen cars with KKK on them and racial slurs and find it again immature. People need to grow up, seriously.
-Keywords. I really wish that they would allow the creators to label their car under certain characteristics. For paint schemes, they could have anime, cartoon, sports, TV, movies, flames, animals, etc...It would be nice to be able to search that way and find the things that you want easier.

Well it is actually a Fairlady Z but with a 300 paint scheme.  I don't have any pictures in game of it, but for those that haven't seen it below are the screenies of from the designer himself.  Note mine is number 50/300.

also the first car that i bought from the auction house is a mario themed Mini Cooper...bad car but great paint scheme.

I never played the original Forza...mainly i was still a GT fan then, but since there isn't a GT coming for awhile and I don't have a PS3, Forza 2 appeared for appealing.  Instead of trying the demo I just waited for the reviews and just went out and bought it without even trying.  To me it's similar and completely different from GT, which is actually all good.  It's a sim so it's "realistic" not arcadey like GT, but it also goes even farther than GT with damage and better car customization.  The racing is fun, but I've been having the most fun just messing around with the cars, and attempting to paint them. :lol:  Below are some of my cars in and out of races.

I chose North America as my region so I started off with a Chevy Cobalt, mainly for the handling.  Slow and not the best car, but it got me some money.

The Shelby Mustang GT500-KR that your given after gaining levels.  Slightly modified to have more power and better handling (although i was still fliritng with the cones :lol: ).

The Renault that I won taking the corner at a little bit faster speed and sliding through it

Since my family has had 2 PT Cruisers it was only natural that i had to have one and pimp it out.  Simple paint scheme with the flames (note they are supposed to be ghost flames so they may not show up to well on the pic), didn't want to go to overboard.  Note that it is a S ranked car...handles like a beast, but quick acceleration makes up for it.

And the Honda Civic that I just made before stopping about an hour and a half ago.  Knocked it all the way up to S ranked and dominated the Young Blood Rival races...lapped the whole field with ease.  Good cornering and great speed...now if only the paint job was better.

Those are the cars that I have used, but of course if you play the game you end up with more than that just from winning races.  Odd thing is I have a gold Chevy Corvette that I don't remember winning or anything.  It just magically appeared in my garage.  No complaints though :)

So Activision has released some of the songs that will be in GH3 and I have to say that there are already more songs on this list that I want to play then there were in all of GH2.  Below is the list as reported by Gamespot

• Paint it Black - Rolling Stones
• Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
• Sabotage - Beastie Boys
• The Metal - Tenacious D
• My Name is Jonas - Weezer
• Knights of Cydonia - Muse
• Rock and Roll All Night - Kiss
• School's Out - Alice Cooper
• Slow Ride - Fog Hat
• Cult of Personality - Living Colour
• Barracuda - Heart

The biggest shock was the fact that they have actually gotten more of the actual recordings...at least from what this list shows.  But the coolest song on there for me is Knights of Cydonia.  I really hope they have the video for it in the game as it is one of the best music videos ever, if you don't believe me search for it on YouTube. 

Now hopefully the rest of the songs in the game aren't a dissapointment and improve drastically over GH2's song list and make this a must have game.

With Saints Row finally going to the Platinum Hits and becoming $29.99, I decided it was a good time to go out and buy it...before they only had it with the PH covers.  I had played the demo and enjoyed it, but wasn't really willing to pay $60-$50 for it.  After playing it for a couple of hours I can say it was well worth the wait getting it.  I'm a fan of the GTA series and Saints Row is a good clone that even does some things better.  Pop up is still noticeable and some glitches are odd...I recall being in a bulldozer and seeing it disappear magically leaving me sitting in midair with cops all around me.  Rather hilarious, but frustrating that I had to start the whole mission over again...especially since it is an annoying mission.

• *Ironically the best part of the game for me so far has been the voice work by Mila Kunis.  Not that it is absolutely fantastic or terrible just that it is Mila Kunis.  Personally I believe she is one of the best looking chicks in Hollywood, so hearing/seeing her in anything is great.  And weirdly it was awesome hearing her say the F word.*