For reasons no one seems to remember, Megaton was built around a perfectly functioning nuke. Fresh out of the vault, I stopped short and stared when I first spied the bomb, its bulbous girth head first in a crater filled to the brim with brown, murky water. Talking with Lucas Simms, Megaton’s sheriff of sorts, I pointed out the insanity and danger of living so close to a live, unpredictable weapon.
Lucas agreed but said in all the years he lived in Megaton, no one had come along with the expertise to defuse the thing. His eyes narrowed when he offered me the task of neutralizing it. At first I demurred, but when I met the Children of the Atom, a cult dedicated to worshiping fission energy and the bombs that harnessed it, I changed my mind. Given time, I envisioned a scientist type stumbling upon Megaton and the cratered bomb, someone possibly gullible enough to heed the Children’s message that a universe exists within every atom and that a nuclear blast splits atoms into millions more. Worlds created in the blink of eye, at least according to the Children. They were insane. I would defuse that bomb.
I had decided this well before I stepped into Moriarty’s bar, trying to track down information about my wayward father. Stepping into the shithole, the door barely banged shut behind me before a man in a striped suit motioned me over to him. Against my better judgment, I walked over to him. He introduced himself as Mr. Burke and quickly got down to business. Through veiled innuendo, he offered me a job. Mr. Burke’s employer was looking to hire someone to denote Megaton’s nuke. Megaton had become a cesspool of alcoholism, gambling, and whoring and someone wanted it purged by radioactive fire.
I couldn’t get any information out of Burke, like who backed him, but I refused his offer. He told me to come back if I changed my mind. I left Moriarty’s and made my way deliberately to Lucas Simms. I told him of Burke and his plan to wipe Megaton off the face of the earth. Simms’ face hardened at the news. Slinging off his assault rifle, he told me to follow him to witness some frontier justice.
The two of us burst into Moriarty’s. I was surprised to see Burke still there. Balls of steel, this guy. Either that or he estimated me incapable of reporting him to the sheriff. Simms leveled his gun at Burke and ordered him into custody. At first Burke refused, but quickly acquiesced. Satisfied, Simms turned to leave. Burke quickly reached into his inside suit pocket and pulled out a pistol. He fired multiple rounds into Simms, who fell to the ground dead. Burke turned to me, telling me I had made a terrible mistake. Before I could pull out a weapon, Burke calmly walked out of the bar and into wasteland night.
With the entire bar’s eyes on me, I put Simms’ duster hat on my head, his gunslinger trench coat over my shoulders, and his assault rifle in my hands. Megaton had a new sheriff in town.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Deathclaw Finds a Home
Moira asked me to visit a nearby supermarket, just up the slope from Megaton. Within minutes, I trekked within view of the sprawling building. Debris littered the market’s asphalt parking lot. Rusted husks of buses and cars stood testament to the massive destruction that took place hundreds of years ago. As I approached the rectangle shaped warehouse, I heard shots ring out on the building’s opposite side. I quickened my pace to find the source of the gunfire. I rounded the corner and saw a mohawked raider open up his assault rife into a lunging deathclaw. The deathclaw towered over the mercenary scum, absorbing the rifle rounds like they were gentle bubbles. Ignoring the hot rounds pouring into it, the monster lunged into the raider, crushing him with one claw while tearing into him with the other. When the human stopped moving, the deathclaw dropped him like a toddler does a toy and started wandering aimlessly in front of the supermarket. I noticed four other dead raiders strewn about the front of the store, all recently killed.
Seems the deathclaw found a new nest.
Peeking around the corner, I observed that the deathclaw appeared wounded. It had killed all five raiders, but at mortal cost. I steeled my nerve, and stepped into broad view. The deathclaw had its back to me so I trotted forward to get into better range. The 10 mm in my hand felt heavy, unwieldy. My hands sweated. I squeezed the pistol even harder to make sure it didn’t slide right out my hand. At twenty yards, I stopped. The thing suddenly sensed my presence, its torso twisting to draw a bead on me with its beady eyes. It pivoted the rest of the way and let loose a bellowing, primal shriek. It charged.
I half closed my eyes and began to fire. I emptied an entire clip and still the monster came. I fumbled another clip, slamming it into the gun’s handle. Still the monster charged. I unloaded. The monster shuddered and collapsed before my feet. It exhaled a final gasp and then lay still. I sawed off the beast’s right claw as a trophy.
Wounded or not, I took credit for the kill.
Seems the deathclaw found a new nest.
Peeking around the corner, I observed that the deathclaw appeared wounded. It had killed all five raiders, but at mortal cost. I steeled my nerve, and stepped into broad view. The deathclaw had its back to me so I trotted forward to get into better range. The 10 mm in my hand felt heavy, unwieldy. My hands sweated. I squeezed the pistol even harder to make sure it didn’t slide right out my hand. At twenty yards, I stopped. The thing suddenly sensed my presence, its torso twisting to draw a bead on me with its beady eyes. It pivoted the rest of the way and let loose a bellowing, primal shriek. It charged.
I half closed my eyes and began to fire. I emptied an entire clip and still the monster came. I fumbled another clip, slamming it into the gun’s handle. Still the monster charged. I unloaded. The monster shuddered and collapsed before my feet. It exhaled a final gasp and then lay still. I sawed off the beast’s right claw as a trophy.
Wounded or not, I took credit for the kill.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Fallout 3 Delivers
I’m an American. As an American, I’m incapable of delaying my gratification.
Case in point: I ordered Fallout 3 online so I wouldn’t have to talk to the drooling simpletons at Gamestop. I thought my will steeled enough to wait a few more days to role-play within a radioactive wasteland. But my iron-wrought discipline crumpled like that bridge in Minnesota last year and yesterday I found myself talking to the cross-eyed hucksters at Best Buy, Fallout 3 well in hand. Because of my weakness, I now have to return the Gamestop copy, whenever it arrives. This serves as a valuable lesson not to order online when I have so numerous retail outlets available.
And so little patience.
I played the first part of the game last night, even made it to the tiny town outside the Vault, Megatron. I played and finished Oblivion, Bethesda’s penultimate title, and I can testify that Fallout 3 uses many of that game’s design conventions with an obvious graphic overhaul. Character creation is as original as it is creative. I won’t spoil it, other than to comment that your character begins with blood splattering the monitor screen.
I tagged small arms, science, and repair as my primary skills. These start at higher levels than the rest of my skills. If the game is like Oblivion, they also increase more easily. I also buffed up my charisma because as I discovered in Mass Effect, you can get some satisfying dialogue options with diplomacy abilities cranked up. I’ve only used the V.A.T.S system (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) once or twice, but I like what I’ve seen so far. With a weapon equipped, hitting the V key pauses the game, zooms into a target, and lets you select what body part you want to focus your shot on. Head shots have a lower percentage chance than torso shots, but once you approve your focused target, the game resumes in slow motion and reap the rewards of your weapon skills. I plan on taking the perk Messy Kill, so V.A.T.S should serve me well later in the game.
I’ve got a crazy week and weekend shaping up, but I plan to play Fallout 3 as much as I can. Look for me to dribble out more observations in the days to come.
Case in point: I ordered Fallout 3 online so I wouldn’t have to talk to the drooling simpletons at Gamestop. I thought my will steeled enough to wait a few more days to role-play within a radioactive wasteland. But my iron-wrought discipline crumpled like that bridge in Minnesota last year and yesterday I found myself talking to the cross-eyed hucksters at Best Buy, Fallout 3 well in hand. Because of my weakness, I now have to return the Gamestop copy, whenever it arrives. This serves as a valuable lesson not to order online when I have so numerous retail outlets available.
And so little patience.
I played the first part of the game last night, even made it to the tiny town outside the Vault, Megatron. I played and finished Oblivion, Bethesda’s penultimate title, and I can testify that Fallout 3 uses many of that game’s design conventions with an obvious graphic overhaul. Character creation is as original as it is creative. I won’t spoil it, other than to comment that your character begins with blood splattering the monitor screen.
I tagged small arms, science, and repair as my primary skills. These start at higher levels than the rest of my skills. If the game is like Oblivion, they also increase more easily. I also buffed up my charisma because as I discovered in Mass Effect, you can get some satisfying dialogue options with diplomacy abilities cranked up. I’ve only used the V.A.T.S system (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) once or twice, but I like what I’ve seen so far. With a weapon equipped, hitting the V key pauses the game, zooms into a target, and lets you select what body part you want to focus your shot on. Head shots have a lower percentage chance than torso shots, but once you approve your focused target, the game resumes in slow motion and reap the rewards of your weapon skills. I plan on taking the perk Messy Kill, so V.A.T.S should serve me well later in the game.
I’ve got a crazy week and weekend shaping up, but I plan to play Fallout 3 as much as I can. Look for me to dribble out more observations in the days to come.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Legendary Items and Character Differentiation
It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about an MMO. I’ll never forget my stress-test play of World of Warcraft, the thrill of roaming Azeroth’s lowbie zones, killing and leveling and looting to my gamer’s content. Lord of the Rings Online has rekindled that same feeling and the game’s upcoming expansion, Mines of Moria, has me looking forward to many more hours of MMO play.
Mines of Moria includes two new classes, a level cap raise to 60, and brand new content. The game’s most recent developers’ diaries talked about another innovative feature of the expansion, legendary items. The idea behind legendary items are weapons that grow much like a character. They earn experience from killing mobs, gains levels, and can interchange traits that grant their user unique skills, powers, and buffs.
If it works, legendary items might be the most creative idea to come out of an MMO since World of Warcraft remade the entire genre four years ago. Indeed, WoW seems to be following LotRO’s lead in a few areas, most notably WoW’s new feature, achievements and character titles. The deed system in LotRO actually props up a character’s traits, which in turns control how a toon is specced and individually tailors how which statistics are buffed and modified. The same system grants a slew of titles as well. It’s an elegant approach to making a toon unique. Most of all, it’s a lot of fun.
I don’t foresee WoW drastically changing how its characters earn skill tree points. When I last played, a toon earned their first point at level 10 and then continued receiving a point up until the level cap. You didn’t do anything other than level to earn these points. They arrived automatically, to be spent immediately. WoW’s primary focus is on character specc optimization and balance, both between a class’s three skill tress and the classes themselves. I think LotRO does too, I suppose, but it’s not so deliberate and much more forgiving.
In WoW, you CAN pick the wrong specc. You’ll know when you join a 10 or 25 woman instance and fellow players observe your play. If you’re specced wrong in a PUG, you’ll be called a retard. Or worse. If you’re specced wrong in a guild, especially one that raids, you’ll be told to respecc. Not in the general sense, like, “Your specc sucks, go change it,” but rather “Your specc sucks, change it to THIS.” Every point will be dictated to you. There won’t be any debate about an alternative. If you don’t change a “retarded” specc, you risk a boot from the guild.
Which makes me wonder why Blizzard includes skill tree abilities that go one of two ways, widely used to almost exclusively ignored. To be sure, there’s a difference in game play between PvE, PvP, raiding. And in most instances, WoW’s skill trees address those differences. Still, I found it confining to specc my shadow priest according to the universally agreed upon raid template specc. The most commonly accepted raid specc for a shadow priest varied by at most a point or two. There was really only one way to specc my toon. There was really only one way to play her. In retrospect, that contributed greatly to my waning interest in raiding. Not only did all raid boss fights blur together into a vague conglomerate of dancing and jiving, starting and stopping, and full out fighting, but the way I played my priest never varied. I followed the same dot clock rotation every time, yet another aspect of the class that had been tested and retested and optimized. With the exception of dynamic movement, raiding boiled down to pushing the same button sequence over and over and over again till my eyes bled. If you brought in that bird that bobs up and down from water displacement, it could likely peck out my dot rotation just as well as I did.
I guess what I’m complaining about here is min/maxing. What I really want from companies like Blizzard and Turbine is a skill tree system that is deep and balanced enough to allow multiple permutations, all equally effective, rather than the current system which involves some very smart people tracking down THE ONE class specc that nearly everyone reverts to using. I think it makes for more interesting game play to have multiple interpretations of a class role. I see Turbine expanding on that with the introduction of their legendary item system. I see Blizzard holding the status quo. I think the most critically acclaimed MMO (note, not most popular), will be the one that grants varied approaches to class play that can easily defended in multiple arenas, everywhere from PvE to raiding.
I’m looking forward to seeing of Turbine’s legendary item system moves closer to that.
Mines of Moria includes two new classes, a level cap raise to 60, and brand new content. The game’s most recent developers’ diaries talked about another innovative feature of the expansion, legendary items. The idea behind legendary items are weapons that grow much like a character. They earn experience from killing mobs, gains levels, and can interchange traits that grant their user unique skills, powers, and buffs.
If it works, legendary items might be the most creative idea to come out of an MMO since World of Warcraft remade the entire genre four years ago. Indeed, WoW seems to be following LotRO’s lead in a few areas, most notably WoW’s new feature, achievements and character titles. The deed system in LotRO actually props up a character’s traits, which in turns control how a toon is specced and individually tailors how which statistics are buffed and modified. The same system grants a slew of titles as well. It’s an elegant approach to making a toon unique. Most of all, it’s a lot of fun.
I don’t foresee WoW drastically changing how its characters earn skill tree points. When I last played, a toon earned their first point at level 10 and then continued receiving a point up until the level cap. You didn’t do anything other than level to earn these points. They arrived automatically, to be spent immediately. WoW’s primary focus is on character specc optimization and balance, both between a class’s three skill tress and the classes themselves. I think LotRO does too, I suppose, but it’s not so deliberate and much more forgiving.
In WoW, you CAN pick the wrong specc. You’ll know when you join a 10 or 25 woman instance and fellow players observe your play. If you’re specced wrong in a PUG, you’ll be called a retard. Or worse. If you’re specced wrong in a guild, especially one that raids, you’ll be told to respecc. Not in the general sense, like, “Your specc sucks, go change it,” but rather “Your specc sucks, change it to THIS.” Every point will be dictated to you. There won’t be any debate about an alternative. If you don’t change a “retarded” specc, you risk a boot from the guild.
Which makes me wonder why Blizzard includes skill tree abilities that go one of two ways, widely used to almost exclusively ignored. To be sure, there’s a difference in game play between PvE, PvP, raiding. And in most instances, WoW’s skill trees address those differences. Still, I found it confining to specc my shadow priest according to the universally agreed upon raid template specc. The most commonly accepted raid specc for a shadow priest varied by at most a point or two. There was really only one way to specc my toon. There was really only one way to play her. In retrospect, that contributed greatly to my waning interest in raiding. Not only did all raid boss fights blur together into a vague conglomerate of dancing and jiving, starting and stopping, and full out fighting, but the way I played my priest never varied. I followed the same dot clock rotation every time, yet another aspect of the class that had been tested and retested and optimized. With the exception of dynamic movement, raiding boiled down to pushing the same button sequence over and over and over again till my eyes bled. If you brought in that bird that bobs up and down from water displacement, it could likely peck out my dot rotation just as well as I did.
I guess what I’m complaining about here is min/maxing. What I really want from companies like Blizzard and Turbine is a skill tree system that is deep and balanced enough to allow multiple permutations, all equally effective, rather than the current system which involves some very smart people tracking down THE ONE class specc that nearly everyone reverts to using. I think it makes for more interesting game play to have multiple interpretations of a class role. I see Turbine expanding on that with the introduction of their legendary item system. I see Blizzard holding the status quo. I think the most critically acclaimed MMO (note, not most popular), will be the one that grants varied approaches to class play that can easily defended in multiple arenas, everywhere from PvE to raiding.
I’m looking forward to seeing of Turbine’s legendary item system moves closer to that.
Fallout 3 Out Today
Fallout 3 comes out today. I ordered it online, so I don’t anticipate getting it until later in the week. I’d much prefer a delay in playing the game than having to deal with the retards at Gamestop.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wall Street Side Bets
Turns out that a major contributor to our nation's current economic plight is the role of Credit Default Swaps, a form of insurance someone could take out in the event an investment failed. The catch? You didn't have to actually be invested to take out the insurance. The other catch? Credit default swaps were made illegal more than a hundred years ago and were only recently re-legalized in 2000 by the U.S. Congress. Experts summarize the derivatives as nothing more than investment betting, akin to the kind of side betting Joe the Plumber might make on a sporting event.
Catch the entire explanation from 60 Minutes, required viewing for all tax-paying and voting Americans.
Catch the entire explanation from 60 Minutes, required viewing for all tax-paying and voting Americans.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
My Letter to My Representatives
Dear X (Culberson, Hutchison, Cornyn),
I’ve heard reports that Congress is contemplating putting together another stimulus package, potentially costing more than $100 billion. Many economists dispute the effectiveness of these packages, especially if citizens save the money or spend it on imports. With $11 trillion in national debt and more than $500 billion deficit, I can’t rationalize spending even more money that we don’t have.
So please, Congressman, vote “no” on any stimulus package that comes to the floor of the House. Instead, work with Congress in developing legislation that either invests money into our nation’s infrastructure or begins to pay off the $11 trillion national debt. Protecting the American economy and paying off that debt should be Congress’ number one priority right now.
I want you to also take a closer look at our free trade agreements with foreign countries. Nearly everyone agrees that these agreements have bled the United States of manufacturing jobs. It seems the playing field isn’t level, which in turn has turned the United States into a country that makes nothing and imports everything.
Your citizen,
Frank Thomson
http://furiouscognition.blogspot.com/
I’ve heard reports that Congress is contemplating putting together another stimulus package, potentially costing more than $100 billion. Many economists dispute the effectiveness of these packages, especially if citizens save the money or spend it on imports. With $11 trillion in national debt and more than $500 billion deficit, I can’t rationalize spending even more money that we don’t have.
So please, Congressman, vote “no” on any stimulus package that comes to the floor of the House. Instead, work with Congress in developing legislation that either invests money into our nation’s infrastructure or begins to pay off the $11 trillion national debt. Protecting the American economy and paying off that debt should be Congress’ number one priority right now.
I want you to also take a closer look at our free trade agreements with foreign countries. Nearly everyone agrees that these agreements have bled the United States of manufacturing jobs. It seems the playing field isn’t level, which in turn has turned the United States into a country that makes nothing and imports everything.
Your citizen,
Frank Thomson
http://furiouscognition.blogspot.com/
Stimulus Package
Talk currently floats around the halls of the U.S. Congress about putting together another "stimulus" package to help the floundering American economy. The idea behind such packages is that the government mails checks to citizens who then turn around and spend the money. The consumer spending supposedly invigorates the economy, which in turns increases job growth. Unfortunately, economists point out, the dynamic isn't as simple as that. If a citizen spends his stimulus check on imports, the profits benefit the exporting nation, not the United States. Also, if the citizen squirrels the money away for a rainy day, again, the money isn't being pumped into the economy. The first two stimulus packages cost billions of dollars to fund and couldn't prevent our economy from sliding into a recession. It's hard to justify a third.
I haven't heard one economists go on record saying they think this is a good idea. Nearly all of them agree that writing Americans a check for $300 won't help the economy in any long-term way. Instead, they advocate that the government should start pumping money into wide-scale infrastructure projects--roads, green energy, government buildings, etc--something that provides a permanent benefit and creates jobs. Americans don't want to hear this, but they haven't been managing their money any better than our government; if you hand Joe the Plumber a check for $300, I guarantee he's going to turn around and blow the whole wad at the nearest Hooters, which may help Joe cop a feel, but doesn't benefit the macro American economy in any significant way.
I do think our friends in Congress need to get their heads examined. The Democrats that are currently building consensus for this stimulus package still support the notion of spending even more money our government doesn't have. I think I heard Democrat Henry Reid quoted as saying that he was prepared to raise taxes to fund a new stimulus package. Um, huh? Give out free money to your citizens, turn around and tax those same citizens, and use that tax revenue to fund the stimulus package. I've got a crazy idea! How about no stimulus package at all? How about Democrats and Republicans sit down and start thinking of ways to SAVE money, not spend it?
A revolutionary idea in American politics, I know.
In many ways, our politicians remind me of the jackasses at AIG who took more than a $100 billion in bailout money from the U.S. Treasury and then spent $500,000 at a spa and another $50,000 at a English resort. Our politicians and corporate officers still don't seem to get it. Our country is $11 trillion in debt, with a more than $500 billion budget deficit. When will it dawn on them that they can't continue spending even more money none of us have? When our debt hits $15 trillion? $20 trillion? I'm thinking if we ever reach that point, the entire world monetary system could collapse. It nearly is right now.
So if you feel inclined, write your Senators and Congressmen. I recommend you tell them to vote "no" if a new stimulus bill hits the floor. Tell them to instead invest any discretionary money they think they might have into something tangible, like a green energy package advocated by Al Gore or that Pickens dude. Tell your politicians that you want to hear them start proposing legislation that is going to address our $11 trillion debt, our unfair trade balance, the issue of world free trade agreements, job creation, job retention, and energy policy. I plan on telling my representatives, Culberson, Cornyn, and Hutchinson, that addressing the national debt should now be their number one priority.
I hope you agree with me and mobilize.
I haven't heard one economists go on record saying they think this is a good idea. Nearly all of them agree that writing Americans a check for $300 won't help the economy in any long-term way. Instead, they advocate that the government should start pumping money into wide-scale infrastructure projects--roads, green energy, government buildings, etc--something that provides a permanent benefit and creates jobs. Americans don't want to hear this, but they haven't been managing their money any better than our government; if you hand Joe the Plumber a check for $300, I guarantee he's going to turn around and blow the whole wad at the nearest Hooters, which may help Joe cop a feel, but doesn't benefit the macro American economy in any significant way.
I do think our friends in Congress need to get their heads examined. The Democrats that are currently building consensus for this stimulus package still support the notion of spending even more money our government doesn't have. I think I heard Democrat Henry Reid quoted as saying that he was prepared to raise taxes to fund a new stimulus package. Um, huh? Give out free money to your citizens, turn around and tax those same citizens, and use that tax revenue to fund the stimulus package. I've got a crazy idea! How about no stimulus package at all? How about Democrats and Republicans sit down and start thinking of ways to SAVE money, not spend it?
A revolutionary idea in American politics, I know.
In many ways, our politicians remind me of the jackasses at AIG who took more than a $100 billion in bailout money from the U.S. Treasury and then spent $500,000 at a spa and another $50,000 at a English resort. Our politicians and corporate officers still don't seem to get it. Our country is $11 trillion in debt, with a more than $500 billion budget deficit. When will it dawn on them that they can't continue spending even more money none of us have? When our debt hits $15 trillion? $20 trillion? I'm thinking if we ever reach that point, the entire world monetary system could collapse. It nearly is right now.
So if you feel inclined, write your Senators and Congressmen. I recommend you tell them to vote "no" if a new stimulus bill hits the floor. Tell them to instead invest any discretionary money they think they might have into something tangible, like a green energy package advocated by Al Gore or that Pickens dude. Tell your politicians that you want to hear them start proposing legislation that is going to address our $11 trillion debt, our unfair trade balance, the issue of world free trade agreements, job creation, job retention, and energy policy. I plan on telling my representatives, Culberson, Cornyn, and Hutchinson, that addressing the national debt should now be their number one priority.
I hope you agree with me and mobilize.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Hellgate: London Shutting Down
It's official, Hellgate: London will close down its servers February 2009. After months went by with no restructuring plan announced, the final closing of this game comes as no real surprise. Hopefully future designers can use HG:L as an example of what NOT to do when creating and marketing a video game.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Idiocracy and WALL-E
After watching Mike Judge’s Idiocracy, I wondered if the creators of Pixar’s WALL-E had watched it too. Both movies share a common vision for the future of humankind: stupid, lazy, illiterate, barely functioning. The big difference between the movies is that in WALL-E, computers were taking care of everything, to the point they were taking OVER everything. In Idiocracy, civilization was merely crumbling back to the Stone Age.
I found Judge’s movie to be more to the point about humankind. I like the notion that natural selection can’t work on people. Since we have no predators, nature can’t weed out the smart, fast, strong from the stupid, slow, weak. Everyone survives. In Judge’s twisted world, stupid people procreate in greater numbers than smart people, creating a kind of reverse natural selection that eventually threatens thousands of years of human evolution. Judge makes clever use of professional wrestling, a Gatorade drink, monster truck rallies, and the restaurant chain Fuddruckers to make his point.
In WALL-E, technology is more the threat. The movie guesses that people are going to slowly cede more and more responsibility and power to machines. The most poignant moment in the movie is when the captain struggles to read a manual about returning to earth and growing crops. With machines doing everything, people had lost the ability to even read. There’s some natural selection ingrained in that scenario, which again makes me wonder if the Pixar people used Judge’s movie as a springboard to their own.
Idiocracy came and went in the theaters with little to no fanfare. I didn’t even know the movie existed until I saw it my cable guide. Since it is so obscure, I’m willing to bet there are legions of potential fans out there. I highly recommend the movie, especially for fans of Team America and other modern, dark satire.
I found Judge’s movie to be more to the point about humankind. I like the notion that natural selection can’t work on people. Since we have no predators, nature can’t weed out the smart, fast, strong from the stupid, slow, weak. Everyone survives. In Judge’s twisted world, stupid people procreate in greater numbers than smart people, creating a kind of reverse natural selection that eventually threatens thousands of years of human evolution. Judge makes clever use of professional wrestling, a Gatorade drink, monster truck rallies, and the restaurant chain Fuddruckers to make his point.
In WALL-E, technology is more the threat. The movie guesses that people are going to slowly cede more and more responsibility and power to machines. The most poignant moment in the movie is when the captain struggles to read a manual about returning to earth and growing crops. With machines doing everything, people had lost the ability to even read. There’s some natural selection ingrained in that scenario, which again makes me wonder if the Pixar people used Judge’s movie as a springboard to their own.
Idiocracy came and went in the theaters with little to no fanfare. I didn’t even know the movie existed until I saw it my cable guide. Since it is so obscure, I’m willing to bet there are legions of potential fans out there. I highly recommend the movie, especially for fans of Team America and other modern, dark satire.
Throbbing Forehead Vein, Feel My Rage
I can take only so much bureaucratic stupidity and I snap like a gym towel on a hot chick’s ass. The details aren’t important as much as the general stupidity and laziness I’ve encountered these past few days. The source? The impression that job X isn’t in bureaucrat Z’s job description.
Even though it really is.
There’s nothing more frustrating than having to be the middle man for the simplest of tasks. To hold the hands of other adults. To outline to them, in excruciating detail, how to do their job. Like informing them when they fix a teacher’s computer, they need to go ahead and pick it up off the floor and reinstall it, instead of just leaving it there so it can sit for weeks unnoticed, assumed to still be broken.
I seriously blew a gasket this morning when I walked into the classroom and bore witness to a fixed machine lying exactly where I put it two months ago. Fixed, though no one knew that tiny detail except the bureaucrat, who kept it to herself for, what, national security reasons?
I guess this is my version of the TPS report, though not really. It inspires the same rage, but it’s mostly just me cleaning up after someone else’s laziness and inability to communicate with their fellow human beings. It’s the lousy attitude that chafes me the most. I suspect it comes from the difference between salaried and hourly employees. The former is often asked to do a myriad of duties outside their official job description. I think the latter does too, but I find them much more likely to balk when asked to do something they don’t want to do.
Like shelving books, for example. I’ve got four assistants that “help” with returning library books to the shelf. It’s mindless work, to be sure, but a certain precision is required. Otherwise, a mis-shelved book is as good as lost. One of assistants hates shelving books. Her solution? To deliberately mis-shelve them in hopes for reassignment. She actually bragged about her strategy to a crowded teacher’s lounge, catching herself at the last moment when she realized her mixed audience. Another assistant whispered the frank confession to me immediately. When I confronted the conniving assistant, she freaked out on me, accused me of talking down to her and motioning to her “like a dog,” and then ended the conversation by asking me if “I was threatening her.”
Smart enough to deflect and distract when caught, not smart enough to stealthily go about the business of injecting chaos into library book shelves.
Part of the problem is I can tell these kinds of employees have an exaggerated notion of their importance to the school that runs counter to their actual abilities and performance. They feel empowered enough to analyze whether they feel like doing a requested task, even completely reasonable, though admittedly onerous, jobs. And when they deliberately work slowly or bungle the task, they implicitly communicate, “Wadda ya gonna do, fire me?” In this kind of economy, maybe! I can only hope that qualified applications increase right along with the nation’s unemployment rate. I’d like to see a bit of humility out of some of these people, a snap in their step, a scurry to get something done, rather than the usual hunched shoulders, eye rolling, and foot shuffling I usually get.
I’m making it sound like the majority of people at my school are degenerate slugs. They aren’t. It’s just a handful that seems to exaggerate the impression.
And get my forehead vein throbbing to the bursting point.
Even though it really is.
There’s nothing more frustrating than having to be the middle man for the simplest of tasks. To hold the hands of other adults. To outline to them, in excruciating detail, how to do their job. Like informing them when they fix a teacher’s computer, they need to go ahead and pick it up off the floor and reinstall it, instead of just leaving it there so it can sit for weeks unnoticed, assumed to still be broken.
I seriously blew a gasket this morning when I walked into the classroom and bore witness to a fixed machine lying exactly where I put it two months ago. Fixed, though no one knew that tiny detail except the bureaucrat, who kept it to herself for, what, national security reasons?
I guess this is my version of the TPS report, though not really. It inspires the same rage, but it’s mostly just me cleaning up after someone else’s laziness and inability to communicate with their fellow human beings. It’s the lousy attitude that chafes me the most. I suspect it comes from the difference between salaried and hourly employees. The former is often asked to do a myriad of duties outside their official job description. I think the latter does too, but I find them much more likely to balk when asked to do something they don’t want to do.
Like shelving books, for example. I’ve got four assistants that “help” with returning library books to the shelf. It’s mindless work, to be sure, but a certain precision is required. Otherwise, a mis-shelved book is as good as lost. One of assistants hates shelving books. Her solution? To deliberately mis-shelve them in hopes for reassignment. She actually bragged about her strategy to a crowded teacher’s lounge, catching herself at the last moment when she realized her mixed audience. Another assistant whispered the frank confession to me immediately. When I confronted the conniving assistant, she freaked out on me, accused me of talking down to her and motioning to her “like a dog,” and then ended the conversation by asking me if “I was threatening her.”
Smart enough to deflect and distract when caught, not smart enough to stealthily go about the business of injecting chaos into library book shelves.
Part of the problem is I can tell these kinds of employees have an exaggerated notion of their importance to the school that runs counter to their actual abilities and performance. They feel empowered enough to analyze whether they feel like doing a requested task, even completely reasonable, though admittedly onerous, jobs. And when they deliberately work slowly or bungle the task, they implicitly communicate, “Wadda ya gonna do, fire me?” In this kind of economy, maybe! I can only hope that qualified applications increase right along with the nation’s unemployment rate. I’d like to see a bit of humility out of some of these people, a snap in their step, a scurry to get something done, rather than the usual hunched shoulders, eye rolling, and foot shuffling I usually get.
I’m making it sound like the majority of people at my school are degenerate slugs. They aren’t. It’s just a handful that seems to exaggerate the impression.
And get my forehead vein throbbing to the bursting point.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Star Wars: The Old Republic
It's official now. Lucasarts and Bioware are teaming up to make a new Star Wars MMO, entitled oddly enough, Star Wars: The Old Republic.
I tell you, I will buy this when it coms out, sight unseen, because I'm a Star Wars and MMO whore. Putting those two together is like mixing chocolate and peanut butter, which just so happens to be my favorite candy bar.
But I'll buy it and play it with trepidation. George Lucas has forever betrayed my trust. My initial fan boi love for the prequel trilogy has long been replaced with anger at the artistic opportunities he missed. I'm ready for George to fade into the background while some young, creative soul takes over the franchise.
In many ways, this MMO could hint at the Star Wars along the horizon. George like to mix his tentacles into every Star Wars project, much like Stan Lee used to do with older Marvel movies. But MMOs are too big for even George to micromanage. And that can only bode well for fans of the series and MMOs.
So yes, I'll buy it and play it. It can't be any worse than Galaxies and I played that steaming pile a shit for more than a year. Galaxies bungled players as jedi on release. I'm most curious how Bioware handles that Pandora's Box.
I tell you, I will buy this when it coms out, sight unseen, because I'm a Star Wars and MMO whore. Putting those two together is like mixing chocolate and peanut butter, which just so happens to be my favorite candy bar.
But I'll buy it and play it with trepidation. George Lucas has forever betrayed my trust. My initial fan boi love for the prequel trilogy has long been replaced with anger at the artistic opportunities he missed. I'm ready for George to fade into the background while some young, creative soul takes over the franchise.
In many ways, this MMO could hint at the Star Wars along the horizon. George like to mix his tentacles into every Star Wars project, much like Stan Lee used to do with older Marvel movies. But MMOs are too big for even George to micromanage. And that can only bode well for fans of the series and MMOs.
So yes, I'll buy it and play it. It can't be any worse than Galaxies and I played that steaming pile a shit for more than a year. Galaxies bungled players as jedi on release. I'm most curious how Bioware handles that Pandora's Box.
Monday, October 20, 2008
True Blood Romance
I’ve been watching True Blood this fall season, but interest is slowly seeping out of me. To the show’s credit, it’s a novel twist on the vampire tradition—vampires engaged in human society. My problem is that the show is too much Harlequin Romance, not enough From Dusk Till Dawn. Bill, the main vampire character, loves Sookie, the mind reading human (Sookie? What the hell kind of name is that?) She loves him back, but the vampire thing keeps her from fully committing.
She’s so picky.
Most episodes revolve around their unrequited love. They spend minutes of the show pining for each other. I’m sure the chicks dig that part of the series, but it’s got me bored to blood-filled tears. I can’t endure vampire romance any more I can human. In fact, human romance is a lot less annoying because at least the female participant can’t whine about her boyfriend being the walking dead.
The preview for the next episode promised a bar fight between humans and vampires, so maybe things will pick up a bit. That bar owner broke a pool cue in half and lunged at a Eurotrash vamp, so I'm looking forward to some stakin' and bakin'. Unless Bill and Sookie ruin it making cow eyes at each other. Sookie got bit by Bill, so maybe she’s on the road to becoming a vampire herself. That’d be pretty cool, especially if things cooled between them and they started hating each other's stinkin' guts.
She’s so picky.
Most episodes revolve around their unrequited love. They spend minutes of the show pining for each other. I’m sure the chicks dig that part of the series, but it’s got me bored to blood-filled tears. I can’t endure vampire romance any more I can human. In fact, human romance is a lot less annoying because at least the female participant can’t whine about her boyfriend being the walking dead.
The preview for the next episode promised a bar fight between humans and vampires, so maybe things will pick up a bit. That bar owner broke a pool cue in half and lunged at a Eurotrash vamp, so I'm looking forward to some stakin' and bakin'. Unless Bill and Sookie ruin it making cow eyes at each other. Sookie got bit by Bill, so maybe she’s on the road to becoming a vampire herself. That’d be pretty cool, especially if things cooled between them and they started hating each other's stinkin' guts.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Evendim Continues to Loom Large
Lukenbach hit the LFF channels hard last night, but didn’t have any luck finding PUG fellowships for his four remaining Evendim quests. I also begged in kin chat, prompting a selfless kin to take pity on me and help.
But a 50 can’t run someone through Thief-takers Bane or Tomb of Elendim. We did get Fool’s Crown done, and part of Hewing Wood. Heart-rot, the boss tree, ultimately pwned us, so we’ll have to return in greater numbers next time.
He also helped me with Book 4.2. The quests after that are solo up to 4.5, so I’m anxious to continue getting that chain completed.
All in all, a fairly productive night.
But a 50 can’t run someone through Thief-takers Bane or Tomb of Elendim. We did get Fool’s Crown done, and part of Hewing Wood. Heart-rot, the boss tree, ultimately pwned us, so we’ll have to return in greater numbers next time.
He also helped me with Book 4.2. The quests after that are solo up to 4.5, so I’m anxious to continue getting that chain completed.
All in all, a fairly productive night.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Fareed Zakaria Is Mr. Bright Side
In his Newsweek article entitled, "There is a Silver Lining," Fareed Zakaria describes the good that may come from the banking and mortgage collapse. He writes, "This crisis has—dramatically, vengefully—forced the United States to confront the bad habits it has developed over the past few decades."
A few sentences later, he succinctly summarizes the plight that ails us, writing, "Since the 1980s, Americans have consumed more than they produced—and they have made up the difference by borrowing."
That's the nail on the head right there. Sure, we can blame our politicians for not shutting down the party years ago. But the bottom line is that the American consumer is to blame too. We live a lifestyle on borrowed money--right alongside our state and federal governments. Plenty of Wall Street greed and stupidity played a role. But a critical opportunity will be lost if Americans don't self-reflect and acknowledge how individual citizen spending and borrowing contributed to the current crisis.
So maybe Zakaria is right. Maybe there is a bright side to all this. This bright side comes at a back-breaking cost, but we all just witnessed firsthand what happens to macro economics based on rampant consumerism fueled by indiscriminate lending. It lead us nearly to the brink. Hell, we may have unknowingly tipped over already, hurtling towards a dark abyss. Regardless, we CAN learn from this.
The question is, will we?
A few sentences later, he succinctly summarizes the plight that ails us, writing, "Since the 1980s, Americans have consumed more than they produced—and they have made up the difference by borrowing."
That's the nail on the head right there. Sure, we can blame our politicians for not shutting down the party years ago. But the bottom line is that the American consumer is to blame too. We live a lifestyle on borrowed money--right alongside our state and federal governments. Plenty of Wall Street greed and stupidity played a role. But a critical opportunity will be lost if Americans don't self-reflect and acknowledge how individual citizen spending and borrowing contributed to the current crisis.
So maybe Zakaria is right. Maybe there is a bright side to all this. This bright side comes at a back-breaking cost, but we all just witnessed firsthand what happens to macro economics based on rampant consumerism fueled by indiscriminate lending. It lead us nearly to the brink. Hell, we may have unknowingly tipped over already, hurtling towards a dark abyss. Regardless, we CAN learn from this.
The question is, will we?
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The Culberson Writes Back!
I received a letter from Congressman John Culberson today. In response to my electronic message, he mailed me a two page letter explaining why he voted against both bailout bills, his theory as to how the crisis began, and a summary of what he's done to protect the U.S. economy in the years preceding our current crisis.
The letter the Congressman sent me is basically a reworded version of what is currently posted on his website. A few things of note: 1) Congressman Culberson voted against both bailout bills. That's significant because the second version of the bill differed only from the first in that it had heaps of pork and tax cuts and increases in it, to the tune of $150 billion. Congressmen who voted against it the first time, but for it the second only did so out of self-interest; they weren't guided by principal or reason, only by the usual greed we've come to expect out of Washington. Culberson notes that the White House and the Treasury could not guarantee that the bailout would work. As a result, he voted against it the second time around.
2) Culberson writes the following, "The current housing crisis and subsequent credit crunch can be traced to the failed Democrat and Clinton and Bush Administration policies that prioritized low-income homeownership. For years congressional leaders pushed banks to make politically-correct loans to consumers who are incapable of paying their mortgage."
Congressman Culberson isn't the first source I've heard made mention of this. Others have also pointed out that the social engineering of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae initiated the practice of relaxing lending practices to get more people into houses. Relaxed the practices to the point that banks were putting people into homes they had no hope of ever fiscally managing. In the months to come, I think we'll here more about this origin theory of the mortgage crisis, especially as Fannie and Freddie are fully shaken down.
3) Congressman Culberson mentions that the U.S. government is going to generate the $700 billion dollar bailout by selling Treasury bills on the international bond market. Culberson maintains that the bulk of these bills will be bought by the Chinese and by Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. Culberson thinks, "American taxpayers will borrow billions of dollars from Chinese and Middle Eastern banks to bail out Chinese and Middle Eastern banks." Is this true? I'm not sure, but I'd like to hear what other economists say about it. I've heard precious little detail from what source the U.S. Treasury is getting their $700 billion.
4) Culberson writes, "This law also raised the national debt to $11.3 trillion, doubled the deficit overnight, and saddled our children and grandchildren with at least $1 trillion in new unfunded obligations." Congressman Culberson is the first politician I've read mention our nation's debt figure. I've never heard McCain or Obama talk about our debt, let alone the actual number. For all I know, our presidential candidates may not even know we have a debt, which probably explains why both have outlined lots of new ways to spend more money.
I'm not sure who Culberson is running against this fall, but based on how he voted for the bailout bill, I will likely vote for him this November. I have no idea what his stance is on other issues, especially education or the Iraq war. Most likely, I disagree with him on both. Nevertheless, he seems to advocate the fiscal responsibility our country needs right now. He didn't vote for the second version of the bill when it delivered some juicy pork for Democrats and Republicans alike. That's not just good judgement, it's also the execution of a sound fiscal policy stand. I plan on following Culberson if he's re-elected, tracking his voting record on key economic bills, and letting him know my opinion.
I think if more of us had this kind of involvement in government, we might not be in the mess we are today. I think too many politicians think Americans too self-absorbed to pay attention to the day-to-day operations of the country. And up to three weeks ago, they'd be right. But I sense things have changed now. This economic crash was a wake up call to the nation that no one is at the tiller of our current financial course and unless we wake up, start monitoring the activities of our elected officials, and hold them accountable, we could very well sail right off the edge of the world.
I wonder of Governor Palin thinks the world is flat?
The letter the Congressman sent me is basically a reworded version of what is currently posted on his website. A few things of note: 1) Congressman Culberson voted against both bailout bills. That's significant because the second version of the bill differed only from the first in that it had heaps of pork and tax cuts and increases in it, to the tune of $150 billion. Congressmen who voted against it the first time, but for it the second only did so out of self-interest; they weren't guided by principal or reason, only by the usual greed we've come to expect out of Washington. Culberson notes that the White House and the Treasury could not guarantee that the bailout would work. As a result, he voted against it the second time around.
2) Culberson writes the following, "The current housing crisis and subsequent credit crunch can be traced to the failed Democrat and Clinton and Bush Administration policies that prioritized low-income homeownership. For years congressional leaders pushed banks to make politically-correct loans to consumers who are incapable of paying their mortgage."
Congressman Culberson isn't the first source I've heard made mention of this. Others have also pointed out that the social engineering of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae initiated the practice of relaxing lending practices to get more people into houses. Relaxed the practices to the point that banks were putting people into homes they had no hope of ever fiscally managing. In the months to come, I think we'll here more about this origin theory of the mortgage crisis, especially as Fannie and Freddie are fully shaken down.
3) Congressman Culberson mentions that the U.S. government is going to generate the $700 billion dollar bailout by selling Treasury bills on the international bond market. Culberson maintains that the bulk of these bills will be bought by the Chinese and by Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. Culberson thinks, "American taxpayers will borrow billions of dollars from Chinese and Middle Eastern banks to bail out Chinese and Middle Eastern banks." Is this true? I'm not sure, but I'd like to hear what other economists say about it. I've heard precious little detail from what source the U.S. Treasury is getting their $700 billion.
4) Culberson writes, "This law also raised the national debt to $11.3 trillion, doubled the deficit overnight, and saddled our children and grandchildren with at least $1 trillion in new unfunded obligations." Congressman Culberson is the first politician I've read mention our nation's debt figure. I've never heard McCain or Obama talk about our debt, let alone the actual number. For all I know, our presidential candidates may not even know we have a debt, which probably explains why both have outlined lots of new ways to spend more money.
I'm not sure who Culberson is running against this fall, but based on how he voted for the bailout bill, I will likely vote for him this November. I have no idea what his stance is on other issues, especially education or the Iraq war. Most likely, I disagree with him on both. Nevertheless, he seems to advocate the fiscal responsibility our country needs right now. He didn't vote for the second version of the bill when it delivered some juicy pork for Democrats and Republicans alike. That's not just good judgement, it's also the execution of a sound fiscal policy stand. I plan on following Culberson if he's re-elected, tracking his voting record on key economic bills, and letting him know my opinion.
I think if more of us had this kind of involvement in government, we might not be in the mess we are today. I think too many politicians think Americans too self-absorbed to pay attention to the day-to-day operations of the country. And up to three weeks ago, they'd be right. But I sense things have changed now. This economic crash was a wake up call to the nation that no one is at the tiller of our current financial course and unless we wake up, start monitoring the activities of our elected officials, and hold them accountable, we could very well sail right off the edge of the world.
I wonder of Governor Palin thinks the world is flat?
Party of Two, Hold the Platform
My friend the other day asked me if I consider any negative criticisms of Barack Obama. It’s an interesting question, one that reminds me how polarized our politics have become. For many people, voting for one candidate or another means you unquestioningly support everything that candidate does or represents. It means you ignore the humanity of the candidate and pretend they can do no wrong. My in-laws are excellent examples of this, as they still defend Bush to this day. Granted, they’ve mollified their support with statements like, “George Bush sure has had a rough presidency,” as if he didn’t have anything to do with events that went down under his watch. At least they stopped saying things like, “George Bush has done so much good for our country.”
Cue the nausea.
Back to my friend because he poses a worthy question (and one I could deflect right back to him regarding McCain). Do I unanimously support Obama? Not even close. In the midst of the Democratic primary, I thought him among the weakest prospects. I calculated Edwards and Biden better candidates, mostly because of their gift for public speaking and experience. I also liked other Republican candidates better than Romney, Huckabee, or even McCain. My biggest concern with Obama was his lack of experience. Now that he’s the presidential front-runner, that concern remains.
So neither of these current candidates are my first picks. Which brings up the conundrum: if you’re a Republican, do you vote for the Republican candidate no matter what? If you’re a Democratic, is it Obama or nothing? This is basically the question my friend posed to me. My answer is a resounding “no.”
Since 1992, I have ping-ponged between Democratic and Republican candidates. In ’92, I voted for Clinton. In ’96, I voted for Dole. In ‘00, I voted for Bush. In ’04, Kerry. And this year, unless something dramatic occurs between now and Nov. 4th, I’ll vote for Obama.
The bottom line is, I feel no strong party affiliation. I think both parties equally altruistic, equally corrupt, equally partisan. I chuckle to myself when a citizen or a pundit tears into an opposing political party. I’ve grown so immune to their rhetoric, I barely register what they’re saying. If I had my way, I’d disband both parties. I’d make candidates run on their own unique platform, rather than the sludge put forth by both the Democratic and Republican platforms.
Why would I do something so drastic? Because people vote according to these party platforms, but the elected candidates rarely follow them. Republicans are supposed to be, according to their own platform, fiscal conservatives. But these last eight years, Bush and the Republican Congress joined the Democrats in running up a massive tab of pork, programs, and tax cuts. The Republicans helped spend money we don’t have and they did it talking out of their asses, standing up for one thing, but doing the complete opposite. Tens of thousands of Republicans and swing voters elected George Bush in ’00 and ’04 because he said he was going to cut spending and taxes. He only actually did the latter and coupled with the deregulation of the banking industry and the mortgage lending crisis, we find our economy on the brink of complete breakdown.
Because of politicians like George Bush, I don’t really believe anything any of them say. Including Barack Obama. I don’t have any illusions that a President Obama will rush into office and fix everything that is wrong. It troubles me that he’s associated with a documented terrorist. I don’t like that his former pastor is a raving lunatic, spewing hatred of the country he lives in. I don’t like that he hasn’t even served a full term as a U.S. senator yet he’s on the verge of becoming the President of the United States. I find it highly disturbing that Obama’s campaign donates to Acorn, an organization just recently accused of registration and voter fraud.
I have grave reservations about Barack Obama. But I’m voting for him because he says he’ll pull our troops out of Iraq and reposition them where they belong, Afganistan. I’m voting for him because I think he has a better understanding of the economy; he’s certainly handled himself well during this recent crisis, unlike McCain who seemed to run around with his head cut off, scrambling to eek out some political gain. I’m voting for Obama because he’ll likely remove or alter No Child Left Behind, an unfunded educational initiative that is doing more harm than good to our nation’s schools.
Will Obama do everything he says in this campaign? No, he won’t. But none of them do. If I thought for a second that McCain would actually make some hard choices, balance our country’s balance and trade deficit and start paying off the $10 trillion we have in debt, I’d vote for him. But all I hear McCain say is “tax cuts.” As if that’s supposed to make me my froth at the mouth, lope up to him with my tongue hanging out, and pant. To me, tax cuts equate to “Here’s some money we don’t really have. Go ahead! Spend it! Tomorrow is another day.” I can’t believe any candidate would dare sell tax cuts during an election season where the National Debt Clock has to be re-fabricated to account for a tens digit in the trillions.
So yes, I’m aware of Obama’s faults. When I vote for him in November, I’ll be doing so with reservations. Even if he wins and takes office, I’m not holding my breath for him to even fulfill half of what he promised on the campaign trail. That won’t stop me from being the winning candidate's most vocal critic. Because I’m not voting for a political party or a platform or an ideology, I’m voting for a man who can get the United States back on track.
These days, I don’t have much faith that such a man exists.
Cue the nausea.
Back to my friend because he poses a worthy question (and one I could deflect right back to him regarding McCain). Do I unanimously support Obama? Not even close. In the midst of the Democratic primary, I thought him among the weakest prospects. I calculated Edwards and Biden better candidates, mostly because of their gift for public speaking and experience. I also liked other Republican candidates better than Romney, Huckabee, or even McCain. My biggest concern with Obama was his lack of experience. Now that he’s the presidential front-runner, that concern remains.
So neither of these current candidates are my first picks. Which brings up the conundrum: if you’re a Republican, do you vote for the Republican candidate no matter what? If you’re a Democratic, is it Obama or nothing? This is basically the question my friend posed to me. My answer is a resounding “no.”
Since 1992, I have ping-ponged between Democratic and Republican candidates. In ’92, I voted for Clinton. In ’96, I voted for Dole. In ‘00, I voted for Bush. In ’04, Kerry. And this year, unless something dramatic occurs between now and Nov. 4th, I’ll vote for Obama.
The bottom line is, I feel no strong party affiliation. I think both parties equally altruistic, equally corrupt, equally partisan. I chuckle to myself when a citizen or a pundit tears into an opposing political party. I’ve grown so immune to their rhetoric, I barely register what they’re saying. If I had my way, I’d disband both parties. I’d make candidates run on their own unique platform, rather than the sludge put forth by both the Democratic and Republican platforms.
Why would I do something so drastic? Because people vote according to these party platforms, but the elected candidates rarely follow them. Republicans are supposed to be, according to their own platform, fiscal conservatives. But these last eight years, Bush and the Republican Congress joined the Democrats in running up a massive tab of pork, programs, and tax cuts. The Republicans helped spend money we don’t have and they did it talking out of their asses, standing up for one thing, but doing the complete opposite. Tens of thousands of Republicans and swing voters elected George Bush in ’00 and ’04 because he said he was going to cut spending and taxes. He only actually did the latter and coupled with the deregulation of the banking industry and the mortgage lending crisis, we find our economy on the brink of complete breakdown.
Because of politicians like George Bush, I don’t really believe anything any of them say. Including Barack Obama. I don’t have any illusions that a President Obama will rush into office and fix everything that is wrong. It troubles me that he’s associated with a documented terrorist. I don’t like that his former pastor is a raving lunatic, spewing hatred of the country he lives in. I don’t like that he hasn’t even served a full term as a U.S. senator yet he’s on the verge of becoming the President of the United States. I find it highly disturbing that Obama’s campaign donates to Acorn, an organization just recently accused of registration and voter fraud.
I have grave reservations about Barack Obama. But I’m voting for him because he says he’ll pull our troops out of Iraq and reposition them where they belong, Afganistan. I’m voting for him because I think he has a better understanding of the economy; he’s certainly handled himself well during this recent crisis, unlike McCain who seemed to run around with his head cut off, scrambling to eek out some political gain. I’m voting for Obama because he’ll likely remove or alter No Child Left Behind, an unfunded educational initiative that is doing more harm than good to our nation’s schools.
Will Obama do everything he says in this campaign? No, he won’t. But none of them do. If I thought for a second that McCain would actually make some hard choices, balance our country’s balance and trade deficit and start paying off the $10 trillion we have in debt, I’d vote for him. But all I hear McCain say is “tax cuts.” As if that’s supposed to make me my froth at the mouth, lope up to him with my tongue hanging out, and pant. To me, tax cuts equate to “Here’s some money we don’t really have. Go ahead! Spend it! Tomorrow is another day.” I can’t believe any candidate would dare sell tax cuts during an election season where the National Debt Clock has to be re-fabricated to account for a tens digit in the trillions.
So yes, I’m aware of Obama’s faults. When I vote for him in November, I’ll be doing so with reservations. Even if he wins and takes office, I’m not holding my breath for him to even fulfill half of what he promised on the campaign trail. That won’t stop me from being the winning candidate's most vocal critic. Because I’m not voting for a political party or a platform or an ideology, I’m voting for a man who can get the United States back on track.
These days, I don’t have much faith that such a man exists.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Not a Fluke: A Series
I went to the doctor today. I'm just barely shy of the cusp of men who have to bend over and sing "Moon River" whenever they visit a MD. Mine was a followup for my moderately high blood pressure, thankfully sans the gratuitous rectal/prostate exam.
At the nurse screening, I stepped on the scale. It read 199. I'm still reeling from weighing in less than 200 pounds, so much so I assumed the scale at the gym was malfunctioning. Turns out it's not. I am a wisp of my former self.
She also took my blood pressure. Last checkup, my systolic (the top number) was around 150, my diastolic (the bottom) 65. The top number had my doctor all in a tizzy. I've been on quinapril for three years now and when he saw my 150 systolic, he doubled my dosage, ordered me to exercise, and eat less salt.
I did all that and today my blood pressure came in at a staggering 120/66. I don't think I've ever seen my doctor smile, but today he was all grins.
So was I.
I hit the gym again this afternoon. Lifting 185 eight times was also not a fluke. I only managed three reps of 195 though. I got a tetanus shot in my left arm, a flu shot in my right, so my upper shoulder region was unusually stiff and unresponsive.
That didn't keep the honnies away. Once again, scantily clad females harassed me on my way out to the truck. I'm going to have to start wearing bulky, saggy gym clothes to help ward them off better. If that's even possible which I seriously doubt.
At the nurse screening, I stepped on the scale. It read 199. I'm still reeling from weighing in less than 200 pounds, so much so I assumed the scale at the gym was malfunctioning. Turns out it's not. I am a wisp of my former self.
She also took my blood pressure. Last checkup, my systolic (the top number) was around 150, my diastolic (the bottom) 65. The top number had my doctor all in a tizzy. I've been on quinapril for three years now and when he saw my 150 systolic, he doubled my dosage, ordered me to exercise, and eat less salt.
I did all that and today my blood pressure came in at a staggering 120/66. I don't think I've ever seen my doctor smile, but today he was all grins.
So was I.
I hit the gym again this afternoon. Lifting 185 eight times was also not a fluke. I only managed three reps of 195 though. I got a tetanus shot in my left arm, a flu shot in my right, so my upper shoulder region was unusually stiff and unresponsive.
That didn't keep the honnies away. Once again, scantily clad females harassed me on my way out to the truck. I'm going to have to start wearing bulky, saggy gym clothes to help ward them off better. If that's even possible which I seriously doubt.
The Trollshaw Exception
I few weeks back, I bragged that getting anonymous fellowship help in LotRO was as easy as a bank getting bailed out by the U.S. government.
I take it all back.
My quest log holds a maximum of forty quests. I estimate that at least half in my log right now are fellowship quests that I can’t find groups for. And of those, too many are grayed out; I’ll get the reputation and reward, but little to no experience.
As a harsh consequence, Lukenbach’s leveling has been retarded. Fellowship quests often involve elite mobs, fully of juicy, yummy experience. Without them, I’ve had to grind a bit too much on Lukenbach to get him to his current 43rd level. I’ll grind if I have to, but it seems silly to do so when knocking out some of these fellowship quests would amount to at least half a level. If not more.
For this week, I’m going to try a new strategy: nothin’ but fellowships. I’m going to log in, travel to a zone full of fellowship quests, and then spam the Looking for Fellowship channel until I successfully complete the quests. I did that for Thief’s Bane in Evendim the other night, but with only two people, we couldn’t keep the three rangers alive through the entire instance. I’ve got fellowship quests spanning a number of zones now, including Evendim, North Downs, The Shire, and the Trollshaws.
It’ll be a long road to hoe.
I take it all back.
My quest log holds a maximum of forty quests. I estimate that at least half in my log right now are fellowship quests that I can’t find groups for. And of those, too many are grayed out; I’ll get the reputation and reward, but little to no experience.
As a harsh consequence, Lukenbach’s leveling has been retarded. Fellowship quests often involve elite mobs, fully of juicy, yummy experience. Without them, I’ve had to grind a bit too much on Lukenbach to get him to his current 43rd level. I’ll grind if I have to, but it seems silly to do so when knocking out some of these fellowship quests would amount to at least half a level. If not more.
For this week, I’m going to try a new strategy: nothin’ but fellowships. I’m going to log in, travel to a zone full of fellowship quests, and then spam the Looking for Fellowship channel until I successfully complete the quests. I did that for Thief’s Bane in Evendim the other night, but with only two people, we couldn’t keep the three rangers alive through the entire instance. I’ve got fellowship quests spanning a number of zones now, including Evendim, North Downs, The Shire, and the Trollshaws.
It’ll be a long road to hoe.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Statue of Liberty, It's Been Too Long
A 4th grader at my school wore a shirt today that said the following in Spanish:
The last time I was in a woman was when I visited the Statue of Liberty.
Classy.
The last time I was in a woman was when I visited the Statue of Liberty.
Classy.
Moria Expeditionary
Turbine announced officially that the Mines of Moria expansion for Lord of the Rings Online will be released November 18th, 2008. As part of the announcement, Turbine is offering current subscribers an early digital upgrade price for the expansion, $29.99. You don’t get a hard copy of the game, but it’s $10 off what you pay for the box. In addition, you get the title “Moria Expeditionary,” two cosmetic cloaks, three tokens for items to be made available on the game’s release, and reduced subscription options.
I went ahead and upgraded last night. At least, I tried to. Reading the fine print, apparently the digital upgrade isn’t available for residents off Washington, California, and Texas. Something to do with taxation. On a whim, I went ahead and hit submit. What’s the worst that could happen aside from a rejection screen?
To my surprise, my order went through! I logged into the game, and sure enough, the title and one of the cosmetic cloaks was already available. I logged out and hit the forum boards to see if I could discern why my order went through when it shouldn’t have.
Turns out Turbine has a bug in their billing system that isn’t properly filtering out Washington, California, and Texas customers. My order went through when it wasn’t supposed to. After I checked my email receipt, I saw the mistake. The game was billed at $0, sales tax at $29.99.
The good news from all this is Turbine knows of the mistake, but won’t retroactively attempt to correct the customers that accidentally got through. A Turbine forum moderately wrote that the company would have to work out the tax mistake implications on their end.
Which is great news for me. I saved $10, got some phat lewtz, and a cool new title. Plus, when MoM goes live November 18th, the game should already be downloaded a ready to go.
Now all I have to do is get my minstrel to 50 by then
I went ahead and upgraded last night. At least, I tried to. Reading the fine print, apparently the digital upgrade isn’t available for residents off Washington, California, and Texas. Something to do with taxation. On a whim, I went ahead and hit submit. What’s the worst that could happen aside from a rejection screen?
To my surprise, my order went through! I logged into the game, and sure enough, the title and one of the cosmetic cloaks was already available. I logged out and hit the forum boards to see if I could discern why my order went through when it shouldn’t have.
Turns out Turbine has a bug in their billing system that isn’t properly filtering out Washington, California, and Texas customers. My order went through when it wasn’t supposed to. After I checked my email receipt, I saw the mistake. The game was billed at $0, sales tax at $29.99.
The good news from all this is Turbine knows of the mistake, but won’t retroactively attempt to correct the customers that accidentally got through. A Turbine forum moderately wrote that the company would have to work out the tax mistake implications on their end.
Which is great news for me. I saved $10, got some phat lewtz, and a cool new title. Plus, when MoM goes live November 18th, the game should already be downloaded a ready to go.
Now all I have to do is get my minstrel to 50 by then
Thursday, October 9, 2008
You Can't See the Fire or Smell the Smoke . . . Yet
File this under: I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
Just weeks ago, the federal treasury gave AIG, the insurance conglomerate, some $85 billion to help shore up the tidal wave of security claims the company found itself obligated pay. People wanted their money, AIG didn’t have the assets on hand, so the government stepped in to shore them up. What did AIG do with that $85 billion they were given on behalf of the American taxpayer? They turned around and threw a We-screwed-over-the-government-and-taxpayers party! AIG executives took some of their highest performing insurance agents to a weekend spa where the company spent $500,000 on hotel rooms, booze, massages, and manicures.
I. Shit. You. Not.
Yes, after running their company into the ground from their own greed and stupidity, AIG turned around, took $85 billion of taxpayer money from the U.S. treasury, and spent a half million dollars of it to live it up at a high-priced resort.
It gets better though! Just yesterday, the treasury just gave AIG another $35 billion. Yup, that’s right. Even though a congressional hearing just got done grilling a pair of AIG executives about their high class retreat, the same government turned around and gave them even more money.
I just don’t know what to write here. I am at an utter loss in the face of AIG’s unmitigated gall, bald-faced nerve, metal-solid balls of steel. But I’m equally amazed by the blinding stupidity of our very own government. This isn’t rocket science! These people are ripping us off! Why is Henry Paulsen giving a corrupt company MORE goddamn money on the heels of such blatant disregard for their own financial plight? We shouldn’t be giving them more money! We should be taking away the $85 billion we gave them in the first place. They obviously learned nothing from their collapse, as evidenced by the party they threw themselves celebrating the congressional sellout. Throwing a half million dollar party? For failing? Really?
Right now, I think I’m content with seeing AIG crash and burn into insolvency. Even if it pulls the American economy down with it. I think that’s the only way anyone will learn. When a company uses bailout money to fund more of its previous lifestyle and our government continues to give them more money upon disclosure, it seems only a total economic meltdown will get any of their attention. America is led by men concerned only with getting themselves reelected and lining their pockets. Our companies are led by men content to see their country destroyed if that’s what it takes to make them rich.
I despair the United States is bankrupt of genuine leadership. We all have grown fat and complacent and bored with our democracy and our power and our wealth. Our lethargy is reflected in the people we send to Washington to represent us and run things. We’re an ailing empire. A declining power.
Rome is burning.
Just weeks ago, the federal treasury gave AIG, the insurance conglomerate, some $85 billion to help shore up the tidal wave of security claims the company found itself obligated pay. People wanted their money, AIG didn’t have the assets on hand, so the government stepped in to shore them up. What did AIG do with that $85 billion they were given on behalf of the American taxpayer? They turned around and threw a We-screwed-over-the-government-and-taxpayers party! AIG executives took some of their highest performing insurance agents to a weekend spa where the company spent $500,000 on hotel rooms, booze, massages, and manicures.
I. Shit. You. Not.
Yes, after running their company into the ground from their own greed and stupidity, AIG turned around, took $85 billion of taxpayer money from the U.S. treasury, and spent a half million dollars of it to live it up at a high-priced resort.
It gets better though! Just yesterday, the treasury just gave AIG another $35 billion. Yup, that’s right. Even though a congressional hearing just got done grilling a pair of AIG executives about their high class retreat, the same government turned around and gave them even more money.
I just don’t know what to write here. I am at an utter loss in the face of AIG’s unmitigated gall, bald-faced nerve, metal-solid balls of steel. But I’m equally amazed by the blinding stupidity of our very own government. This isn’t rocket science! These people are ripping us off! Why is Henry Paulsen giving a corrupt company MORE goddamn money on the heels of such blatant disregard for their own financial plight? We shouldn’t be giving them more money! We should be taking away the $85 billion we gave them in the first place. They obviously learned nothing from their collapse, as evidenced by the party they threw themselves celebrating the congressional sellout. Throwing a half million dollar party? For failing? Really?
Right now, I think I’m content with seeing AIG crash and burn into insolvency. Even if it pulls the American economy down with it. I think that’s the only way anyone will learn. When a company uses bailout money to fund more of its previous lifestyle and our government continues to give them more money upon disclosure, it seems only a total economic meltdown will get any of their attention. America is led by men concerned only with getting themselves reelected and lining their pockets. Our companies are led by men content to see their country destroyed if that’s what it takes to make them rich.
I despair the United States is bankrupt of genuine leadership. We all have grown fat and complacent and bored with our democracy and our power and our wealth. Our lethargy is reflected in the people we send to Washington to represent us and run things. We’re an ailing empire. A declining power.
Rome is burning.
The Price of Fitness
I benched eight reps of 185 yesterday. I had plateaued at five reps for weeks, but powered out eight fairly easily after a three day rest. I immediately slapped ten more pounds and did four reps of 195. I stepped on a scale at the end of my work out and did a double take; for the first time in a decade, I weigh less than 200 pounds. The scale said 199. Three months ago, it said 208.
All this raw, physical power I now wield has dramatically changed how I interact with the human race. For instance, when I was done benching 195, some hulking, tattooed punk looked at me cross-eyed. I said, “What the *@#$ are you lookin’ at?”
He looked down to the ground as he murmured, “Nothing sir.”
I flexed reflexively, nearly pushing over with my rippling sinews a passing gym-goer. I lowered my voice and said, “You’re damn right nothing. Now get the hell out of here.”
He scurried away as fast as he could before the shadow of my brawny physique.
A bit later, as I left the gym, a swarm of lingerie clad honnies mobbed me just outside the door. They begged me to come with them to an undisclosed location that they insisted contained lots of beer, a 50” HD TV, a video camera, and mirrored walls. I demurred, of course, but the honnies wouldn’t take no for an answer until I held up my left hand and displayed my wedding band.
They pouted as they left, to which I could only say, “Hate the game, babes, not the playa. Not the playa.”
I don’t enjoy intimidating roided-out punks or fending off the unsolicited advances of hot babes. But if that’s the price I must pay for being fit, then so be it.
All this raw, physical power I now wield has dramatically changed how I interact with the human race. For instance, when I was done benching 195, some hulking, tattooed punk looked at me cross-eyed. I said, “What the *@#$ are you lookin’ at?”
He looked down to the ground as he murmured, “Nothing sir.”
I flexed reflexively, nearly pushing over with my rippling sinews a passing gym-goer. I lowered my voice and said, “You’re damn right nothing. Now get the hell out of here.”
He scurried away as fast as he could before the shadow of my brawny physique.
A bit later, as I left the gym, a swarm of lingerie clad honnies mobbed me just outside the door. They begged me to come with them to an undisclosed location that they insisted contained lots of beer, a 50” HD TV, a video camera, and mirrored walls. I demurred, of course, but the honnies wouldn’t take no for an answer until I held up my left hand and displayed my wedding band.
They pouted as they left, to which I could only say, “Hate the game, babes, not the playa. Not the playa.”
I don’t enjoy intimidating roided-out punks or fending off the unsolicited advances of hot babes. But if that’s the price I must pay for being fit, then so be it.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
"That One" Right about Iraq
I watched the debate last night. Except for the time that McCain referred to Obama as “that one,” there wasn’t any really memorable event of the night.
Except when McCain said Obama “didn’t understand the Iraq war.”
Apparently, McCain used the same phrase in the last debate, except this time Obama was poised to pounce. On his turn to respond, Obama said something to the effect, “McCain is right, I don’t understand why we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and didn’t have WMD.”
Zing.
Even before our economy tanked, I had decided to vote for Obama, mostly because of Iraq. It pisses me off that we invaded after being told Hussein helped the 9/11 terrorists, possessed WMD, and was imminently ready to strike the United States again. None of that was true. In fact, it wasn’t even close. Hussein had in fact shut down his WMD program years earlier. And it was later proved that Hussein’s association with Al Qaeda was tenuous at best and that he played no role in the 9/11 attack. How could our government not know these things? If they did know, they either didn’t tell Bush or they did tell the president and he ignored them. Or they just plain didn’t know which means my seven year old daughter is as good at intelligence gathering as they are.
Either scenario makes our government look like a bunch of amateur clowns.
So I decided long ago, even before the Democratic and Republican primaries, I want our country out of Iraq. We never should have invaded, we shouldn’t be there now. I want our army out. Now. Obama vows to do that, McCain promises to keep the troops there indefinitely. McCain, Bush, Cheney, they all promised that not only would the United States Army be greeted as liberators, Iraq’s oil revenues would fund the war effort. Iraq currently holds a $50 billion surplus in its banks, while the American taxpayer is paying a $10 billion monthly bill to keep troops in Iraq. Nothing they said about Iraq was true.
Let’s not forget that unlike Iraq, we’ve got a $10 trillion national debt, a $1 trillion deficit. We can’t afford to wage this war. We can’t continue funding a war rooted in false testimony, phony intel, and creative political maneuvering.
So “that one” has it right: pull out of Iraq, shift some troops back to Afganistan, hunt down (again) the Taliban and Bin Laden, and reconsolidate our military so that we can prepare for the next international challenge. And deploy our army when it really matters and based on solid information. If we invade one more country on false pretense, we deserve to be invaded ourselves.
You hear that Canada and Mexico? Swarm your armies to the borders, you’re going in!
Except when McCain said Obama “didn’t understand the Iraq war.”
Apparently, McCain used the same phrase in the last debate, except this time Obama was poised to pounce. On his turn to respond, Obama said something to the effect, “McCain is right, I don’t understand why we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and didn’t have WMD.”
Zing.
Even before our economy tanked, I had decided to vote for Obama, mostly because of Iraq. It pisses me off that we invaded after being told Hussein helped the 9/11 terrorists, possessed WMD, and was imminently ready to strike the United States again. None of that was true. In fact, it wasn’t even close. Hussein had in fact shut down his WMD program years earlier. And it was later proved that Hussein’s association with Al Qaeda was tenuous at best and that he played no role in the 9/11 attack. How could our government not know these things? If they did know, they either didn’t tell Bush or they did tell the president and he ignored them. Or they just plain didn’t know which means my seven year old daughter is as good at intelligence gathering as they are.
Either scenario makes our government look like a bunch of amateur clowns.
So I decided long ago, even before the Democratic and Republican primaries, I want our country out of Iraq. We never should have invaded, we shouldn’t be there now. I want our army out. Now. Obama vows to do that, McCain promises to keep the troops there indefinitely. McCain, Bush, Cheney, they all promised that not only would the United States Army be greeted as liberators, Iraq’s oil revenues would fund the war effort. Iraq currently holds a $50 billion surplus in its banks, while the American taxpayer is paying a $10 billion monthly bill to keep troops in Iraq. Nothing they said about Iraq was true.
Let’s not forget that unlike Iraq, we’ve got a $10 trillion national debt, a $1 trillion deficit. We can’t afford to wage this war. We can’t continue funding a war rooted in false testimony, phony intel, and creative political maneuvering.
So “that one” has it right: pull out of Iraq, shift some troops back to Afganistan, hunt down (again) the Taliban and Bin Laden, and reconsolidate our military so that we can prepare for the next international challenge. And deploy our army when it really matters and based on solid information. If we invade one more country on false pretense, we deserve to be invaded ourselves.
You hear that Canada and Mexico? Swarm your armies to the borders, you’re going in!
I Have Become . . .
. . . that which I despise.
Well, not really. But almost!
I was circling the Trollshaws yesterday in Lord of the Rings Online. Kammris, my champion, does circles around the zone, gathering up dwarven ore for sale on the auction house. It brings in some easy cash and is mindlessly relaxing after a hard day at work.
That is, until the unexpected happened. Kammris rode through a sea of bears towards a node. A bear trailed me all the way to the ore, so I had to dismount and learn him who was boss. I then turned my attention to the node. I mined it for two ore.
Just as I was about to remount my horse, an elven hunter popped into view. He stood there for a moment and then gave me the finger. He wasn’t anywhere near the node I just mined, but I suspected he was angry that I had mined it. So I /tell him.
“Why did you flip me off?”
“You took my ore.”
I lol’d. “You weren’t anywhere near that ore.”
“I guess you didn’t see me clearing all those bears out.”
“No, I didn’t. Plus, how am I supposed to know that’s why you’re killing the bears? You weren’t even within range of that ore.”
“Your (his sp.) an ass.”
“You seem upset about this ore so come here and I’ll give you the two ore I mined.”
“I don’t want anything from an ass.”
“I guess you think if you call me an ass enough times, it might just become true.”
“So you get that a lot huh?
I think he meant getting called an ass, so I said, “Nope.”
I then went on to ask him how old he was in real life. He stopped responding to me at that point, but he didn’t put me on ignore. When I eventually reached a mailbox, I did send him the two ore. He either hasn’t read the message or he decided to keep the ore because he didn’t send anything back to me.
Turns out he does want something from an ass.
It’s highly ironic to be accused of ninjaing ore when I wrote a post about this very topic just a few months ago. Only, I was the ninjee venting about a ninja. Comparing the two instances, I find the differences acute. Yesterday, I didn’t even see the player when I mined the ore. He wasn’t even close to the ore. He was five levels lower than the surrounding bears and having a hell of a time fighting his way through them to even get to the node. When I see a player racing to a node, I almost always divert course and head for greener pastures. Farming ore in LotRO is not difficult. The ore spawns in plentiful amounts and it’s rare when I patrol a vacant landscape. There’s just too much ore around to act like a dick while farming it.
So was I an ass? I really don’t think so. And I elected to error on the side of mailing the ore he claimed was his. I don’t think he really deserved it, but it’s only two ore. Like I told the jackass from my June post, a couple of ore isn’t worth a player’s reputation. And racing players to nodes is stupid when the Trollshaws offer a vast territory full of ore for everyone.
But as I write this, the guy I ran into yesterday is likely writing a blog himself, blasting me as badly as I did the jackass from a couple of months ago. Which is fair I guess. When it comes to contested resources, everyone thinks they’re right.
I know I am.
Well, not really. But almost!
I was circling the Trollshaws yesterday in Lord of the Rings Online. Kammris, my champion, does circles around the zone, gathering up dwarven ore for sale on the auction house. It brings in some easy cash and is mindlessly relaxing after a hard day at work.
That is, until the unexpected happened. Kammris rode through a sea of bears towards a node. A bear trailed me all the way to the ore, so I had to dismount and learn him who was boss. I then turned my attention to the node. I mined it for two ore.
Just as I was about to remount my horse, an elven hunter popped into view. He stood there for a moment and then gave me the finger. He wasn’t anywhere near the node I just mined, but I suspected he was angry that I had mined it. So I /tell him.
“Why did you flip me off?”
“You took my ore.”
I lol’d. “You weren’t anywhere near that ore.”
“I guess you didn’t see me clearing all those bears out.”
“No, I didn’t. Plus, how am I supposed to know that’s why you’re killing the bears? You weren’t even within range of that ore.”
“Your (his sp.) an ass.”
“You seem upset about this ore so come here and I’ll give you the two ore I mined.”
“I don’t want anything from an ass.”
“I guess you think if you call me an ass enough times, it might just become true.”
“So you get that a lot huh?
I think he meant getting called an ass, so I said, “Nope.”
I then went on to ask him how old he was in real life. He stopped responding to me at that point, but he didn’t put me on ignore. When I eventually reached a mailbox, I did send him the two ore. He either hasn’t read the message or he decided to keep the ore because he didn’t send anything back to me.
Turns out he does want something from an ass.
It’s highly ironic to be accused of ninjaing ore when I wrote a post about this very topic just a few months ago. Only, I was the ninjee venting about a ninja. Comparing the two instances, I find the differences acute. Yesterday, I didn’t even see the player when I mined the ore. He wasn’t even close to the ore. He was five levels lower than the surrounding bears and having a hell of a time fighting his way through them to even get to the node. When I see a player racing to a node, I almost always divert course and head for greener pastures. Farming ore in LotRO is not difficult. The ore spawns in plentiful amounts and it’s rare when I patrol a vacant landscape. There’s just too much ore around to act like a dick while farming it.
So was I an ass? I really don’t think so. And I elected to error on the side of mailing the ore he claimed was his. I don’t think he really deserved it, but it’s only two ore. Like I told the jackass from my June post, a couple of ore isn’t worth a player’s reputation. And racing players to nodes is stupid when the Trollshaws offer a vast territory full of ore for everyone.
But as I write this, the guy I ran into yesterday is likely writing a blog himself, blasting me as badly as I did the jackass from a couple of months ago. Which is fair I guess. When it comes to contested resources, everyone thinks they’re right.
I know I am.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Oink, Oink, Oink
Remember when the Music Industry was zealously going about the business of suing individuals for the online sharing of ripped CD tracks? That feels like a long time ago, but it wasn’t. I guess it feels like a long time to me because technology has so drastically changed how consumers get their music. Itunes sells millions of tracks a year. At a $1 a pop, their profits must linger not far behind. Rock Band and Guitar Hero have also dramatically changed the landscape. I don’t know what their sales figures are, but they must be strong.
I find all the recent innovations not just interesting, but downright hilarious because the Music Industry, just a few short years ago, wailed so earnestly that consumers should be forced to buy entire CDs. Sales of singles, especially online, would minimize their current business model and likely cripple their sales they cried to anyone who would listen.
Which it did. Of CD sales.
Online sales, of course, took off spectacularly. As more and more Americans bought Ipods, more and more of them wanted their songs delivered straight to that device, in digital form. That bode ill for the Music Industry. They had long fought such a format, to the point of suing their very own customers. If they wielded the same kind of power as the American oil companies, I’m sure they would have done all they could to sabotage the technical development of Ipod devices and the online services that streamed to them.
Which brings me to the free market and the force it can exert on both business and consumers. In the case of online music, both business and consumers won. A business created a device that masses of people love, a market developed to serve that device, and a facet of the larger model was rendered obsolete. In Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum’s chaos-theorist says, “Life always finds a way.” So does innovation.
The Music Industry didn’t anticipate the Ipod and online sales of music. Neither could they predict Guitar Hero and Rock Band. In the midst of their whining and complaining, they were so consumed with holding on to CD sales, they never pursued the future of music sales. In other words, they were lazy. Like piglets at the teats, they didn’t want to move themselves past the sure and easy sales of CDs. It was much easier to immobilize the teats, get them to stay put, so the suckling could continue indefinitely.
Which would have been a great plan except Mama Pig decided to get up and wander away.
Games like Rock Band prove that innovation can create an entirely new revenue source for music sales. And I’m not just talking about the initial sale of the game. Rock Band offers weekly downloads of new music. The sweetest part of the deal for the Music Industry and the artists? A consumer can only play a song if they pay for the song. Piracy almost completely disappears as thousands of fans buy those tracks they most want to play in the Rock Band store. Once upon a time the Music Industry quivered and wet itself before the might of technological innovation, gnashing their teeth and pulling their hair out when CD tracks morphed into MP3 files and then traveled seamlessly via all kinds of gadgets. Now, however, the Music Industry rejoices and celebrates that same technology.
It’s amazing what can happen when you don’t cram a failed business model down the throats of consumers who have already moved on.
I find all the recent innovations not just interesting, but downright hilarious because the Music Industry, just a few short years ago, wailed so earnestly that consumers should be forced to buy entire CDs. Sales of singles, especially online, would minimize their current business model and likely cripple their sales they cried to anyone who would listen.
Which it did. Of CD sales.
Online sales, of course, took off spectacularly. As more and more Americans bought Ipods, more and more of them wanted their songs delivered straight to that device, in digital form. That bode ill for the Music Industry. They had long fought such a format, to the point of suing their very own customers. If they wielded the same kind of power as the American oil companies, I’m sure they would have done all they could to sabotage the technical development of Ipod devices and the online services that streamed to them.
Which brings me to the free market and the force it can exert on both business and consumers. In the case of online music, both business and consumers won. A business created a device that masses of people love, a market developed to serve that device, and a facet of the larger model was rendered obsolete. In Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum’s chaos-theorist says, “Life always finds a way.” So does innovation.
The Music Industry didn’t anticipate the Ipod and online sales of music. Neither could they predict Guitar Hero and Rock Band. In the midst of their whining and complaining, they were so consumed with holding on to CD sales, they never pursued the future of music sales. In other words, they were lazy. Like piglets at the teats, they didn’t want to move themselves past the sure and easy sales of CDs. It was much easier to immobilize the teats, get them to stay put, so the suckling could continue indefinitely.
Which would have been a great plan except Mama Pig decided to get up and wander away.
Games like Rock Band prove that innovation can create an entirely new revenue source for music sales. And I’m not just talking about the initial sale of the game. Rock Band offers weekly downloads of new music. The sweetest part of the deal for the Music Industry and the artists? A consumer can only play a song if they pay for the song. Piracy almost completely disappears as thousands of fans buy those tracks they most want to play in the Rock Band store. Once upon a time the Music Industry quivered and wet itself before the might of technological innovation, gnashing their teeth and pulling their hair out when CD tracks morphed into MP3 files and then traveled seamlessly via all kinds of gadgets. Now, however, the Music Industry rejoices and celebrates that same technology.
It’s amazing what can happen when you don’t cram a failed business model down the throats of consumers who have already moved on.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Lukenbach's Got Nothin' on Michael Phelps
I hit the quest trail hard this past weekend, zooming Lukenbach up two whole levels. He’s 41 now, but now that the bonus xp weekend is over, his continued leveling will slow considerably.
I spent the most time in Evindum. It’s the first zone Turbine added after the game’s release. I like it for the most part except for the fact that the entire middle of the zone is a massive lake. To complete the quests strewn throughout the circumference of the huge water body, you either circle around or swim. Travel by horseback is fast, but rising cliff faces and ranged mobs often force a dismount. And swimming feels like half running movement. It’s so painfully slow I often set Lukenbach’s course and then go downstairs to grab a soda and light snack. I wish they’d put some sort of raft travel system on opposite lake shores, by which you could travel to one side of the lake to the other. To give Evindum credit, the hard travel lends the zone a wilderness feel.
Lukenbach scored his first legendary trait this past weekend as well. Unlike other traits, legendary level is reached by gathering an initial entry tome, talking to an npc, and then gathering a certain number of pages to complete the book. Once the book is complete, the legendary trait is unlocked. A player can only have two legendaries at a time and only when the reach level 41. Lukenbach’s recent acquisition grants him an aoe blasting cry and deals damage to up to three mobs and slows them for a considerable time.
Since Lukenbach is close to level 42 now, I need him to refocus on his master tailoring profession so that he can make himself a new set of armor. Unfortunately, he’s barely started on master so he can’t yet crit on crafting to churn on the really good stuff. To make matters worse, he’s still not high enough level to harvest the higher level mobs that give out the exceptional hides needed to grind out master tailoring. I might just have to buy his armor at 42 and then really focus on tailoring when he can get the hides on his own.
I spent the most time in Evindum. It’s the first zone Turbine added after the game’s release. I like it for the most part except for the fact that the entire middle of the zone is a massive lake. To complete the quests strewn throughout the circumference of the huge water body, you either circle around or swim. Travel by horseback is fast, but rising cliff faces and ranged mobs often force a dismount. And swimming feels like half running movement. It’s so painfully slow I often set Lukenbach’s course and then go downstairs to grab a soda and light snack. I wish they’d put some sort of raft travel system on opposite lake shores, by which you could travel to one side of the lake to the other. To give Evindum credit, the hard travel lends the zone a wilderness feel.
Lukenbach scored his first legendary trait this past weekend as well. Unlike other traits, legendary level is reached by gathering an initial entry tome, talking to an npc, and then gathering a certain number of pages to complete the book. Once the book is complete, the legendary trait is unlocked. A player can only have two legendaries at a time and only when the reach level 41. Lukenbach’s recent acquisition grants him an aoe blasting cry and deals damage to up to three mobs and slows them for a considerable time.
Since Lukenbach is close to level 42 now, I need him to refocus on his master tailoring profession so that he can make himself a new set of armor. Unfortunately, he’s barely started on master so he can’t yet crit on crafting to churn on the really good stuff. To make matters worse, he’s still not high enough level to harvest the higher level mobs that give out the exceptional hides needed to grind out master tailoring. I might just have to buy his armor at 42 and then really focus on tailoring when he can get the hides on his own.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Would You Do It for a Cookie? Huh? Would You Sweet Pea?
The House passed the bailout bill (now dubbed “rescue bill.”) The bill started in the Senate this time and is admittedly the same exact bill as Monday’s, except now it’s riddled with pork and tax cuts to lure all those reluctant politicians that voted against it the first time.
How are these people any different than little kids? You tell them to clean their room. They refuse. You slip them a piece of candy and they reluctantly begin picking their streak-marked underwear off the floor.
Monarchy anyone?
How are these people any different than little kids? You tell them to clean their room. They refuse. You slip them a piece of candy and they reluctantly begin picking their streak-marked underwear off the floor.
Monarchy anyone?
Hockey Mom Representation
I didn’t watch the first half of the vice-presidential debate last night. I couldn’t bring myself to watch Sarah Palin torture and contort perfectly good sentences and thoughts. I instead resolved to watch immediately after the debate a summarization of the train wreck.
My resolve broke and I tuned in with a half hour left. Of that half hour, I witnessed no gaffes from either candidate. In fact, Palin seemed to be assembling cogent sentences into recognizable responses to specific questions. Republicans must have swooned over and over again as Palin repeatedly mentioned “tax cuts” and “Ronald Reagan;” at least she wasn’t babbling like she was in those Curic interviews.
Which leads me to believe that McCain has badly handled Palin. After she gave that first speech announcing her candidacy, they not only squirreled her away out of sight, I believe they also attempted to “train” her in how to respond to vice-presidential questions. The result: a candidate no longer confident in herself enough to intelligently answer questions related to the job she’s running for.
Biden is the polar opposite. He’s been shooting his mouth off his entire career. The guy oozes confidence, which most people will say leads him into an entirely different realm of trouble, loquaciousness and foot-in-mouth disease. I suppose Obama could try and handle his running mate, but I doubt he’d get far. Biden has almost as much political experience as Obama has years of life. Obama knows that, which is probably one of many reasons he picked Biden in the first place.
I know why McCain picked Palin: she’s a woman and she’s ultra-conservative. A good chunk of the Republican Party doesn’t particularly care for McCain. Palin was calculated to appeal to them. And appeal to Hilary Clinton voters still angered that Obama won the Democratic primary.
So McCain picked a good candidate to help him get elected, but he didn’t necessarily pick a good candidate to help lead the country through the mind-bottling problems that face us. We don’t need another Joe Six Pack. We don’t need folksy, down-home, country bumpkin goodness. We don’t need Hockey Moms adequately represented in the White House. What we do need are smart, smart people. I’m not saying Palin isn’t smart because I think she is. She rose to governor of a U.S. state and that’s nothing to sneeze at. I just don’t think her particular skills and presentation fit with what our country needs right now.
In the end though, all the Veep attention is much ado about nothing. Hardly anyone votes by VP (except me on the religion thing). Palin has garnered inordinate attention for all the obvious reasons. But this ultimately will come down to McCain and Obama.
My resolve broke and I tuned in with a half hour left. Of that half hour, I witnessed no gaffes from either candidate. In fact, Palin seemed to be assembling cogent sentences into recognizable responses to specific questions. Republicans must have swooned over and over again as Palin repeatedly mentioned “tax cuts” and “Ronald Reagan;” at least she wasn’t babbling like she was in those Curic interviews.
Which leads me to believe that McCain has badly handled Palin. After she gave that first speech announcing her candidacy, they not only squirreled her away out of sight, I believe they also attempted to “train” her in how to respond to vice-presidential questions. The result: a candidate no longer confident in herself enough to intelligently answer questions related to the job she’s running for.
Biden is the polar opposite. He’s been shooting his mouth off his entire career. The guy oozes confidence, which most people will say leads him into an entirely different realm of trouble, loquaciousness and foot-in-mouth disease. I suppose Obama could try and handle his running mate, but I doubt he’d get far. Biden has almost as much political experience as Obama has years of life. Obama knows that, which is probably one of many reasons he picked Biden in the first place.
I know why McCain picked Palin: she’s a woman and she’s ultra-conservative. A good chunk of the Republican Party doesn’t particularly care for McCain. Palin was calculated to appeal to them. And appeal to Hilary Clinton voters still angered that Obama won the Democratic primary.
So McCain picked a good candidate to help him get elected, but he didn’t necessarily pick a good candidate to help lead the country through the mind-bottling problems that face us. We don’t need another Joe Six Pack. We don’t need folksy, down-home, country bumpkin goodness. We don’t need Hockey Moms adequately represented in the White House. What we do need are smart, smart people. I’m not saying Palin isn’t smart because I think she is. She rose to governor of a U.S. state and that’s nothing to sneeze at. I just don’t think her particular skills and presentation fit with what our country needs right now.
In the end though, all the Veep attention is much ado about nothing. Hardly anyone votes by VP (except me on the religion thing). Palin has garnered inordinate attention for all the obvious reasons. But this ultimately will come down to McCain and Obama.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Masquerade
I mentioned yesterday that it’s Fall Festival time in Middle Earth this past week. While I should be leveling my minstrel, I’ve instead been running around the lands doing festival games. Like the pie-eating contest just outside Bree. You have to eat six pies and talk to the judge in less than a minute. The problem is that some pies take longer to eat than others and there’s no consistent way to distinguish been a time-intensive pastry and a low maintenance one. It took me three tries to finally win, thanks in no part to fellow contestants eating MY pies. In the end, I gained the title “Pie-eating Champion,” which I currently wear proudly. My minstrel’s a rather rotund dwarf, so the moniker is apt.
I also scored three out of the four available festival masks. The hobbit mask is a pumpkin jester cap, the dwarf a bucket, the human a beaver, and the elf a rabbit. I’ve only got the human mask left to earn. It takes twelve festival tokens and the relative mask token to buy one. That’s a lot of token farming, but it’s all good fun.
I recently received an email from Turbine advertising a +25% experience bonus this upcoming weekend in celebration for the rapidly approaching release of Mines of Moria. Woot!
I know what I’ll be doing this weekend.
I also scored three out of the four available festival masks. The hobbit mask is a pumpkin jester cap, the dwarf a bucket, the human a beaver, and the elf a rabbit. I’ve only got the human mask left to earn. It takes twelve festival tokens and the relative mask token to buy one. That’s a lot of token farming, but it’s all good fun.
I recently received an email from Turbine advertising a +25% experience bonus this upcoming weekend in celebration for the rapidly approaching release of Mines of Moria. Woot!
I know what I’ll be doing this weekend.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Blizzard Sues Pants Off WoWGlider
The design company behind World of Warcraft won $6 million from the lawsuit, money the company desperately needs, cash strapped as they are.
Still, it's a worthy suit. Hackers and gold farmers should burn in a section of hell all to themselves. Preferably a hell without broadband access. Or Mountain Dew. No Funyons either.
I'm scaring myself.
Still, it's a worthy suit. Hackers and gold farmers should burn in a section of hell all to themselves. Preferably a hell without broadband access. Or Mountain Dew. No Funyons either.
I'm scaring myself.
Wha . . . Wait . . . What? Where?
That was the exact state of my inebriation last night in Lord of the Rings Online. It's Fall Festival time, and in The Shire, an Inn League Member set me on a seven stage journey throughout that beatific land, drinking large quantities of fermented beverages at each stop. Towards the end, my screen was wobbling to and fro and I was seeing double of everything, including the drinks I was supposed to be drinking. The whole thing was timed, which combined drunkenness with pure panic.
The payoff was worth it though: a new title, Inn League Member, a new deed, and 10,000 reputation with the Inn League. The new deed sounds promising, to sample twenty-three local drinks and earn a new title.
All in all, a very satisfying and festive Fall Festival so far. Tomorrow, I'll summarize the three of four masks I've acquired to date.
The payoff was worth it though: a new title, Inn League Member, a new deed, and 10,000 reputation with the Inn League. The new deed sounds promising, to sample twenty-three local drinks and earn a new title.
All in all, a very satisfying and festive Fall Festival so far. Tomorrow, I'll summarize the three of four masks I've acquired to date.
Iron Man Watched
Last night, I cracked the whip and demanded an early start to the evening rituals. The snot bags were hosed down and read at break neck speed. Their reading time extended to account for my movie viewing. I scooted Wifezilla out the door to her kung fu session. And with the house quieted to a hush, I sat down in my favorite chair, fired up my entertainment system, cranked the receiver volume to “roof collapse,” and finally, finally watched Iron Man.
I loved it. Bob Downy Jr. was perfectly cast as Tony Stark. The story was solid. Yes, it was silly at times, like Afghan terrorists handing a hostage Tony a cache of weapons to build them one uber missile system. But it’s based on a comic book so I can definitely let reality bend. Especially when the story and dialogue are good. It was great watching Tony slowly put his second suit together. That was a great moment when he first tested his boot stabilizers; the powerful momentum sent him splattering against a ceiling wall.
I also really liked Jeff Bridges as a bad guy. I knew right away he was the movie’s villain; the lower cut beard gave it away. I also instantly predicted that Tony would need his first core heart, the one he tells Pepper to dispose. She frames it instead, referencing quite cleverly the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz. Tony later lurches and fumbles for it in the midst of cardiac arrest. Even though it was a neon sign plot device, I didn’t at all mind. Our heroes fight best when the odds are against them. Tony had to dig deeper than his power core provided to defeat the fully charged War Machine.
I can’t wait for the sequel.
I loved it. Bob Downy Jr. was perfectly cast as Tony Stark. The story was solid. Yes, it was silly at times, like Afghan terrorists handing a hostage Tony a cache of weapons to build them one uber missile system. But it’s based on a comic book so I can definitely let reality bend. Especially when the story and dialogue are good. It was great watching Tony slowly put his second suit together. That was a great moment when he first tested his boot stabilizers; the powerful momentum sent him splattering against a ceiling wall.
I also really liked Jeff Bridges as a bad guy. I knew right away he was the movie’s villain; the lower cut beard gave it away. I also instantly predicted that Tony would need his first core heart, the one he tells Pepper to dispose. She frames it instead, referencing quite cleverly the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz. Tony later lurches and fumbles for it in the midst of cardiac arrest. Even though it was a neon sign plot device, I didn’t at all mind. Our heroes fight best when the odds are against them. Tony had to dig deeper than his power core provided to defeat the fully charged War Machine.
I can’t wait for the sequel.
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