Last week former WCW/WWE wrestler Chris Kanyon was found dead of an apparent suicide. I'm sorry I didn't post about it sooner. I liked Kanyon back in his WCW days, but never saw him in WWE. I particularly remember the old catchphrase he used to use, "Who's better than Kanyon?", to which the crowd would always shout back, "Everybody!" He made a good cocky heel. I was sad to hear his life ended the way it did. Add him to the unfortunately long list of wrestlers who died before their time.
Here's another shocker I actually just found out about, apparently some time last night Peter Steele, singer and bass player for Type O Negative, died from heart failure. I've always liked Type O, and I never got to see them live, so I'm pretty disappointed to hear this.
Both of these guys died in their 40s, way too young. Prayers go out to their families. Sometime today, be sure to listen to some Type O and maybe see if you can find a Kanyon match on Youtube. Rest in peace, guys.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Game review - The Orange Box
I have a confession to make. I've never played Half-Life. Never. Now, I know to some of you that might sound blasphemous, but I'm not much of a PC gamer so it's not that big of a deal to me. The biggest reason I wanted to check out The Orange Box was for Portal, and Portal was the first game from the collection that I played.
This was a very cool game. Great concept, great execution, and incredibly frustrating difficulty at times. The story, while too short, was compelling and humorous. It's the extras that bring the hardcore difficulty. The extra challenge maps, super hard versions of the last six rooms in the story, were hard but doable. It's the medal challenges that will have most people pulling there hair out. The last six rooms each have three medal challenges, one for the least time, the least steps taken, and the least portals used. I'm telling you, even with cheat codes some of these are obscenely hard. But overall, this is a very fun game that is totally worth the time to play through. I only wish it had been longer.
Moving on to Half-Life 2. I actually really enjoyed this game. Like I said earlier, I never played the first game, though I did read the Wiki article on it before playing this. Half-Life 2 turned out to be a fun shooter, but with some pretty nasty difficulty, especially if you're going for all the achievements. All three games, Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode One, and HL2: Episode Two, had some achievements that would have been really difficult if it hadn't been for one thing: cheat codes. Hey, I'm not proud, I don't mind using them. I paid my dues on the NES and SNES back in the day.
Anyway, these are some pretty fun games if you want to take the time to go through all of them, and you can get the achievements pretty easily as well. The story is very cool, also, but I'll warn you that Episode Two ends on a cliffhanger. I have no clue when Episode Three will be out, or if the 360 will even be getting it. I know The Orange Box came out a few years ago, and I haven't heard anything about Episode Three yet.
The only game in the collection that I didn't get to was Team Fortress 2. It looks like a cool online shooter, and I've heard a lot of good things about it, but I don't know anyone else who has the game. I don't usually like playing team games with random people, so I never checked it out. Maybe someday I will, and I'll write a review on it then.
My final verdict: This is a great collection of some really fun games. If you see it cheap somewhere and you're looking for a good shooter or a really unique puzzle game, pick it up.
This was a very cool game. Great concept, great execution, and incredibly frustrating difficulty at times. The story, while too short, was compelling and humorous. It's the extras that bring the hardcore difficulty. The extra challenge maps, super hard versions of the last six rooms in the story, were hard but doable. It's the medal challenges that will have most people pulling there hair out. The last six rooms each have three medal challenges, one for the least time, the least steps taken, and the least portals used. I'm telling you, even with cheat codes some of these are obscenely hard. But overall, this is a very fun game that is totally worth the time to play through. I only wish it had been longer.
Moving on to Half-Life 2. I actually really enjoyed this game. Like I said earlier, I never played the first game, though I did read the Wiki article on it before playing this. Half-Life 2 turned out to be a fun shooter, but with some pretty nasty difficulty, especially if you're going for all the achievements. All three games, Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode One, and HL2: Episode Two, had some achievements that would have been really difficult if it hadn't been for one thing: cheat codes. Hey, I'm not proud, I don't mind using them. I paid my dues on the NES and SNES back in the day.
Anyway, these are some pretty fun games if you want to take the time to go through all of them, and you can get the achievements pretty easily as well. The story is very cool, also, but I'll warn you that Episode Two ends on a cliffhanger. I have no clue when Episode Three will be out, or if the 360 will even be getting it. I know The Orange Box came out a few years ago, and I haven't heard anything about Episode Three yet.
The only game in the collection that I didn't get to was Team Fortress 2. It looks like a cool online shooter, and I've heard a lot of good things about it, but I don't know anyone else who has the game. I don't usually like playing team games with random people, so I never checked it out. Maybe someday I will, and I'll write a review on it then.
My final verdict: This is a great collection of some really fun games. If you see it cheap somewhere and you're looking for a good shooter or a really unique puzzle game, pick it up.
Game review - Lego Rock Band
I love Rock Band. I love the Lego games. So it's only natural that I'd like the idea of them together, and wouldn't you know it, I was right! This game is the more "family friendly" entry into the Rock Band series. It's rated E, as opposed to the other games which are rated T. This does pose one small problem. A good number of the downloadable tracks from other Rock Band games won't work in Lego Rock Band because they've been deemed unsuitable for the E rating. Same goes with the songs from the first Rock Band, if you've transferred them to your hard drive.
The game is also a bit easier than the other Rock Bands. Songs that have, say, a four point difficulty rating on guitar in Rock Band 2 might have five red points (the equivalent of devil heads) in Lego Rock Band. And, of course, all the characters in the game are Lego people. The notes that scroll down the play field are even Lego pieces. Other than these minor differences, this game is pretty much like any other Rock Band.
The tour mode, while still kind of repetitive, is fun, and has a lot of funny moments with your Lego people band. The achievements are pretty easy. With a bit of time, anyone could score 960 points. The flawless instrument achievements in this game aren't restricted to the expert difficulty, you can do them on any setting you want, including the new super-easy setting. The last 40 achievement points that many, including probably me, won't get is to score a perfect solo on The Final Countdown on expert. Very tough. Still, 960 is pretty good. Only the completionists will have a problem with that.
Lastly, there's the song selection. Now, everyone has different tastes in music, especially rock fans. I'm not really going to get into my views on specific songs, though I will say I was mostly happy with the music in this game. The only specific song I'll touch on is the Ghostbusters theme. Two words: freaking awesome.
So, if you like Rock Band then pick this game up. Despite the Lego look it plays just like all the other Rock Band games, just maybe a bit easier.
The game is also a bit easier than the other Rock Bands. Songs that have, say, a four point difficulty rating on guitar in Rock Band 2 might have five red points (the equivalent of devil heads) in Lego Rock Band. And, of course, all the characters in the game are Lego people. The notes that scroll down the play field are even Lego pieces. Other than these minor differences, this game is pretty much like any other Rock Band.
The tour mode, while still kind of repetitive, is fun, and has a lot of funny moments with your Lego people band. The achievements are pretty easy. With a bit of time, anyone could score 960 points. The flawless instrument achievements in this game aren't restricted to the expert difficulty, you can do them on any setting you want, including the new super-easy setting. The last 40 achievement points that many, including probably me, won't get is to score a perfect solo on The Final Countdown on expert. Very tough. Still, 960 is pretty good. Only the completionists will have a problem with that.
Lastly, there's the song selection. Now, everyone has different tastes in music, especially rock fans. I'm not really going to get into my views on specific songs, though I will say I was mostly happy with the music in this game. The only specific song I'll touch on is the Ghostbusters theme. Two words: freaking awesome.
So, if you like Rock Band then pick this game up. Despite the Lego look it plays just like all the other Rock Band games, just maybe a bit easier.
More Blogger.com issues
Apparently my troubles with Blogger.com stem from my browser, Opera. Opera just had an upgrade, I think to version 10.5, and ever since I've noticed problems with a few different sites.
So, for now, I guess I'll have to use Chrome for my blog. I'm not real big on Chrome just yet. It seems to have a lot of potential, but it's just not there yet. I really dislike the fact that there's no menu bar at the top. You know, "file", "bookmarks", "tools", etc. If there's some way to put it there, I can't find it. And it seems Chrome can't handle RSS feeds just yet, either.
It's a shame that Opera just can't seem to display some websites, because other than that issue it's definitely my browser of choice. I'll just have to hope that Opera can fix its problems soon.
So, for now, I guess I'll have to use Chrome for my blog. I'm not real big on Chrome just yet. It seems to have a lot of potential, but it's just not there yet. I really dislike the fact that there's no menu bar at the top. You know, "file", "bookmarks", "tools", etc. If there's some way to put it there, I can't find it. And it seems Chrome can't handle RSS feeds just yet, either.
It's a shame that Opera just can't seem to display some websites, because other than that issue it's definitely my browser of choice. I'll just have to hope that Opera can fix its problems soon.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Blogger.com issues
I've been having some issues lately with not being able to log in to Blogger.com, hence the no updates. Looks like that might be resolved now, so expect some updates soon.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Sports news and wrestling
First, a bit of wrestling talk. It seems Impact was on at 8 pm tonight instead of its usual 9 pm slot. I'm pretty sure this was done because of the NCAA Championship game on tonight at 9 (more on that later). I remember now they talked about this numerous times during last week's episode, but of course I forgot. So I only wound up catching the last half of Impact this week. Too bad. I caught the tail end of what looked to have been a doozy of a ladder match between Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson.
I'm having a serious issue with the direction the Knockout Division is taking lately. Apparently tonight Tara, Daffney, Velvet Skye, and Angelina Love competed in a feast or fired type of match where each had to grab a case suspended above the ring (I missed this part of the show). At the end of the show, they each opened their cases to see what was inside. Now, in a standard feast or fired match, three of the cases will contain various title shots and one will have a pink slip. This match was slightly different. Tara's Knockout Title went into one case, an open contract to set up any match went into another, Tara's pet spider Poison (which had been stolen by Daffney) went into the third, and the final case contained an order for that woman to go to the ring and perform a strip tease.
Angelina got the case with the belt, making her the new Knockout Champ. Tara got Poison back. Velvet got the open contract, which she immediately used to set up a match between her and Angelina (more on that in a minute), and Daffney was ordered to strip. Okay, so here's my dilemma. I think Daffney's smoking hot. Hell, all the Knockouts are really hot, but Daffney's my second favorite (after Christy Hemme), so the idea of her stripping is appealing to me. However, I've always had huge respect for the Knockout Division because they're mostly all very talented wrestlers. Unlike WWE's Divas, these women can really put on a good show and don't have to rely on/resort to the kind of stuff WWE used to always do, like bra and panty matches or lesbian situations. Skin for the sake of skin, basically. In my opinion, TNA and the Knockout Division are better than that, they're above that, and as much as I wouldn't mind seeing skin on those lovely ladies, I really feel like it would take something away from them to have them go that route.
So Daffney reluctantly goes to the ring, and old cliched stripper music starts playing. She takes off her tiny hat and makes some angry faces at the camera, very obviously not wanting to strip, and starts to slowly pull her shoulder straps down when she's attacked by Lacey Von Erich, who's in a robe and lingerie. Lacey beats down Daffney and proceeds to do a strip tease herself. I guess she just wanted the attention. The situation proceeds to breakdown, of course, and all the Knockouts start fighting for various reasons. This is when Velvet calls out Angelina. Thing is, though, she never actually says anything about their match being for the title, like I assumed she would. She challenges Angelina to something she called a leather and lace match. Now, I don't know exactly what that entails, so I might be way off base here, but it sounds dangerously close to a bra and panties match to me. I just don't want to see the Knockout Division become a t&a side show (no pun intended). They're better than that.
Moving on briefly to the world of actual sports. Like I mentioned earlier, the final game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament was tonight. Duke vs. Butler. I missed some of the beginning (what overlapped with Impact) but watched the rest. It was actually a really good, competitive game. Duke won in the end. I've never been a big fan of Duke, and I was pretty disappointed to see that after all the upsets and buzzer beaters in this tournament, a number one seed still won it all. Oh well.
Also, today was Opening Day for my Cincinnati Reds (I capitalized it because it's basically a city-wide holiday in Cincinnati)! I'm very excited to see baseball back, but the Reds got spanked pretty hard by the hated Cardinals. I guess it could've been worse, though. It could've been the Cubs. Here's to hoping the Reds can have a decent season!
I'm having a serious issue with the direction the Knockout Division is taking lately. Apparently tonight Tara, Daffney, Velvet Skye, and Angelina Love competed in a feast or fired type of match where each had to grab a case suspended above the ring (I missed this part of the show). At the end of the show, they each opened their cases to see what was inside. Now, in a standard feast or fired match, three of the cases will contain various title shots and one will have a pink slip. This match was slightly different. Tara's Knockout Title went into one case, an open contract to set up any match went into another, Tara's pet spider Poison (which had been stolen by Daffney) went into the third, and the final case contained an order for that woman to go to the ring and perform a strip tease.
Angelina got the case with the belt, making her the new Knockout Champ. Tara got Poison back. Velvet got the open contract, which she immediately used to set up a match between her and Angelina (more on that in a minute), and Daffney was ordered to strip. Okay, so here's my dilemma. I think Daffney's smoking hot. Hell, all the Knockouts are really hot, but Daffney's my second favorite (after Christy Hemme), so the idea of her stripping is appealing to me. However, I've always had huge respect for the Knockout Division because they're mostly all very talented wrestlers. Unlike WWE's Divas, these women can really put on a good show and don't have to rely on/resort to the kind of stuff WWE used to always do, like bra and panty matches or lesbian situations. Skin for the sake of skin, basically. In my opinion, TNA and the Knockout Division are better than that, they're above that, and as much as I wouldn't mind seeing skin on those lovely ladies, I really feel like it would take something away from them to have them go that route.
So Daffney reluctantly goes to the ring, and old cliched stripper music starts playing. She takes off her tiny hat and makes some angry faces at the camera, very obviously not wanting to strip, and starts to slowly pull her shoulder straps down when she's attacked by Lacey Von Erich, who's in a robe and lingerie. Lacey beats down Daffney and proceeds to do a strip tease herself. I guess she just wanted the attention. The situation proceeds to breakdown, of course, and all the Knockouts start fighting for various reasons. This is when Velvet calls out Angelina. Thing is, though, she never actually says anything about their match being for the title, like I assumed she would. She challenges Angelina to something she called a leather and lace match. Now, I don't know exactly what that entails, so I might be way off base here, but it sounds dangerously close to a bra and panties match to me. I just don't want to see the Knockout Division become a t&a side show (no pun intended). They're better than that.
Moving on briefly to the world of actual sports. Like I mentioned earlier, the final game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament was tonight. Duke vs. Butler. I missed some of the beginning (what overlapped with Impact) but watched the rest. It was actually a really good, competitive game. Duke won in the end. I've never been a big fan of Duke, and I was pretty disappointed to see that after all the upsets and buzzer beaters in this tournament, a number one seed still won it all. Oh well.
Also, today was Opening Day for my Cincinnati Reds (I capitalized it because it's basically a city-wide holiday in Cincinnati)! I'm very excited to see baseball back, but the Reds got spanked pretty hard by the hated Cardinals. I guess it could've been worse, though. It could've been the Cubs. Here's to hoping the Reds can have a decent season!
Monday, April 5, 2010
R.I.P. Kurt Cobain
I just realized it's April 5th. Sixteen years ago today is the day Kurt Cobain ended his life. So very sad. I can't believe it's been that long already. So go listen to some Nirvana in memory of Kurt.
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