Sunday, November 30, 2008

Niko Niko's

We had a great Thanksgiving break, very relaxing with lots of turkey eaten and even more gaming. I met with my D&D group for a special Wednesday night session to account for everyone's holiday plans. Afterwards, I tore into Lord of the Rings Online and Fallout 3 to a lesser extent. I also got Farcry 2 in the mail. I have played a bit so far and will write about that later this week.

Wifezilla's birthday was back November 10th, but her school schedule was so crazy, she wanted to postpone her celebratory dinner. She got her due last night as we drove into Houston's Monstrose area and partook of some Greek cuisine at Niko Niko's. We got a taste of gyros at the Texas Renaissance Festival a few weeks back and so sought out the best Greek restaurant in Houston we could find. All roads led to Niko Niko's. The food didn't disappoint, even if the accommodations did. The place is very busy, with a line that almost led outside at varying times. It's really a lunch place though and even though the restaurant recently expanded, there just isn't enough indoor seating in proportion to the traffic. We got a booth right before the big rush hit, some good timing on our part.

I had a gyros sandwich, Melanie the gyros plate dinner, and the girls grilled cheese, on pita bread of course. We plan on returning when the yen for Greek food hits again.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Fallout 3 to Get New Content January

I've got 40+ hours logged with the game, haven't really done the main campaign, and already Bethesda has some additional content waiting in the wings.

Good stuff, that.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

24: Redemption

We finished 24: Redemption last night, a special two hour movie event previewing the upcoming official season of 24. I hated the last season of the series, despite the fact that nuclear weapons were detonating within American cities. That should have made for riveting action and drama, but it somehow didn’t. I blame mostly the writing team, but I’m also growing weary of Sutherland and his acting. He has three modes: rage, torture, and remorse. Keifer doesn’t explore nuance with any of these facets and though that worked for the first few seasons of the series, it’s become tired and trite. Keifer and the writing team need to explore another path for this character, or this impending season will likely suck as bad as the last.

24: Redemption was a good start. There’s a hint of the guilt-ridden action hero, of course, but Africa was a good choice of settings and the action was top notch. I never get tired of watching Jack gun through armies of machinegun-toting bad guys with nothing but a 9mm and catlike reflexes.

I’m not so thrilled about the actress they got to play the new president of the United States. I’ve only seen her in a handful of scenes and she’s already annoying me. She has big shoes to fill to be sure; I doubt anyone will top the dude that played Palmer in the first couple of seasons.

The new season of 24 begins in January, along with the season premiere of Lost. Could be some good television down the pike.

The Agony of Defeat

Fresh off his successful crit of Lukenbach’s axe, Kammris dutifully gathered the crit mats for a shot at a sword for himself. Grand master weaponsmith recipes go for around 500 silver on the auction house. The accompanying beryl shard for around 200. I bought both and then grabbed another beryl shard in my bank for the sword’s recipe. I’ve got scholar kin that craft the journal for me. Everything else Kammris makes. With all the mats gathered, I made my way to Thorin Hall’s superior forge and made the attempt. With the grand master weaponsmith journal and scroll, I had a 62% chance of critting the sword.

I failed miserably.

The failure is purple stock, a shadow of its teal brother’s glory. Kammris duel wields, so I need to crit two of these swords eventually. I’m short on cash though, so it’s going to be a few days before I can try again.

Lukenbach hit 49 last night. He dinged with his polished ancient steel axe buried in an ice wyrm’s head. I think the balance of Forochel quests will propel him to 50, if not close to it. Pushing Lukenbach to 49 directly conflicted with watching TV with Wifezilla, so much so that upon hitting the level, I immediately logged out and hurtled down stairs. Wifezilla shows kind patience when it comes to MMOs, but even she has limits.

And she still hasn’t read my “moosey” comment.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Far Cry 2

I picked this up on the cheap off Ebay last night. A brand new copy for the reasonable cost of $32, shipping included! I’ve read rave reviews about the game’s open world set in Africa and even though the story has been described as “lacking,” Fallout 3 has left me wanting more shooter goodness.

I have no idea when I’m going to find the time to play it, Lord of the Rings Online, and finish Fallout 3. Not to mention the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV comes out the first week of December! It’s a golden age of gaming we currently live in.

May the games continue to flow in the years to come.

Requiem Moves in on Naxx

I’ve been monitoring my old guild’s website, but the members of Requiem haven’t been documenting their experience with Wrath of the Lich King. Could it be they’re too busy playing to wax poetic about their adventures? Hmmm? I could be wrong, but I think most of them view the leveling process a necessary inconvenience to their real goal, hard core raiding. Already a smattering of members has hit 80 and I know the guild is preparing for a 10 woman Naxx run this week.

Of course, WotLK now offers 10 and 25 woman versions of all its new dungeons. I surmise that Requiem’s strategy is to run the 10 womans to learn an instance’s boss strategies, and then later step up to the 25 to farm out the best loot. I’m not sure if strategies are the same for identical 10 and 25 woman dungeons. It could be the strategy remains the same, with boss statistics spiking to account for the fifteen extra people. It wouldn’t surprise me if Blizzard did design two different strategies for the identical dungeons, if only to prevent guilds from learning the ropes on the 10 woman and then using that experience to decimate the 25 version.

Either way, I’m looking forward to hearing how the run goes.

You Say Mice, I Say Mouses

I’ve got Lukenbach nearly to level 49. Last night I did some further exploration of Forochel and discovered the biggest city in the zone, tucked neatly up in the northern part of the zone. It’s a massive city, with architecture inspired by arctic cultures like the Eskimos and Vikings. There’s a ton of quests up there too. I’ve got my log maxed out at 43, but Forochel might come close to sling-shotting me up to 50.

I’m hoping my kin rolls enough rune keepers and wardens to jumpstart early Book runs. I’m still stalled at Book 4.5 and plan on piggybacking off the lowbies working their way back through all the Books.

Now that Kammris is a grand master weaponsmith, I plan to focus on Lukenbach’s tailoring. He’s on tier 5 as well, but unlike Kammris, he doesn’t have a ton of resources squirreled away. A ton of furry beasties drop exceptional hides, but they don’t part with them willingly. I tried asking a cute little wolverine if he’d give me his coat and almost got my face gnawed off in response. So, beefing up my tailoring resources will involve hunting various wild critters like wolves, ornery wolverines, and mooses till Forochel’s forests run red with blood.

Or is it meese? Moosi? Just moose? I think I’ll stick with mooses.

While wandering the lands of Forochel and passing a gaggle of mooses, I made the mistake of pointing out to Wifezilla that she’s sometimes very “moosey.” I don’t know why I say these things, why I put my life at risk like that. I must have a death wish.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Behold Yon Shiny Axe!

Kammris is already yielding bounty from the fruits of his weaponsmithing toil. After purchasing a grand master weaponsmithing journal from the ah and getting a kin to make some +10% weaponsmithing scrolls, Kammris successfully critted an axe for Luckenbach! I had around a 60% and luckily hit. Otherwise, a bunch of one-shot recipes would have gone to waste.

Kammris, Grand Master Weaponsmith

Whew! That was a slog. But he finally dinged it this morning. It's somewhat comical that I hit the former crafting cap a week after the expansion, but it's all good.

Kammris can now churn out some fairly decent weapons. Even better if he attains a one-shot recipe and some grand master weaponsmithing journals. My long term plan now is to work on Kammris' woodworking craft. He's only master journeyman at the moment, so barely started.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Netflix mailed me this movie since I put it in my queue. I watched it last night with my girls and . . .

IT WAS ACTUALLY GOOD!

I know! I couldn't believe it myself! Until the credits rolled, revealing that George Lucas neither directed nor wrote the movie.

Aha!

I hope everyone detects the emerging pattern here. Lucas has nothing to do with a Star Wars movie, it's good. Lucas wraps his greasy mitts around a Star Wars movie, it sucks. Remember when Stan Lee used to personally get involved in those early Marvel movies? Oh, they were terrible! Same thing here. And the way J.J. Abrams is shaping up the next Star Trek movie lends additional impetus that Lucas must step aside for others to continue the Star Wars brand.

I get all goosebumpy just thinking about it.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Tabula Rasa Shutting Down

As reported by Gamespot, Tabula Rasa is shutting down for good. When February ends, so too does TR.

It's a real shame, truthfully, but a necessary part of the MMO free market. Not every game will survive, especially those that rely on monthly subscriptions. Still, it's troubling that a unique sci-fi setting couldn't endure in the sea of fantasy muck.

Boots on the Ground

A kin sent my hobbit warden a shiny new javelin via the mail, so I had to play the little blighter enough to get him out of the start zone where mail flows not. Wardens are really fun to play. They chain their attacks into “gambits,” even more special attacks that become available according to what two skills were used. At level 5, my wee hobbit has a boot, piercing, and shield gambits. The boot one is especially cool because it occasionally triggers a stun.

It’s almost comical to watch my hobbit whipping javelins from distance or stabbing with a spear. Comical, but fun. I’ll start playing him more when I have Lukenbach closer to the new level cap of 60.

Kammris made surprising headway yesterday in master weaponsmithing. He had stockpiled stacks and stacks of ancient iron ore. After farming some exceptional hides and dwarf iron, he was in business. He’s just 800 points short of grand master. Supreme master is the new tier, but he’ll make no headway there until visiting the new zones and harvesting their generous bounty of ore.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Playing with Hooky

The Man has been sticking it to me these past few weeks, so I broke out my best acting skills and feigned illness for a well deserved day off. I need only fool Wifezilla and she bought it hook, line, sinker. I have a co-worker who sends her daughter to the same school as Claire, so it was important that if Wifezilla bumped into her by happenstance, she relay my absence authentically.

It's a tangled web of lies I weave.

Lukenbach benefits most from my ill gotten day off. I've pushed him well into 48 and explored never before seen lands and adventure. Well, unexplored for me. I even got a quest leading to the new MoM zone, Etherion, but until reports die start pouring in that the crowds have subsided, I'll bide my time thank you very much.

Kammris also has begun his mastery of weaponsmithing. It's a grind of the grindiest kind, requiring a wide assortment of ores, jewels, and skins. He can gather most of it himself except for the polished beryls. I'm hoping some kin can craft a stack for him soon.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

No, My MMO Is the Best!

I enjoyed a flawless install last night and logged in with only a minor hiccup. Turbine shut down all its servers to install a hot fix late in the afternoon. But the game was only down for less than an hour and I got to play nearly the entire evening.

Lukenbach is still only level 47. As such, I stuck to the Angumar zone. Which wasn’t as bad as it sounds, as my guild reported throughout the evening the opening MoM zone completely clogged with rapid hordes of level 50 players, all competing for the same mobs. I’ve experienced that before in WoW, particularly with Burning Crusade and patch 2.4. It’s negative fun to fight with five other players for a spawning goblin, so I’ll continue chipping away at level 50 before I venture forth in the new content.

With so many returning kin in chat, I read a multitude of conversations where chirping crickets formally nested. Unfortunately, a good chunk of the talk revolved around WoW bashing. Now, I’m not WoW’s biggest fan, as evidenced by the fact that I don’t play it anymore. But my opinion of WoW isn’t a zero sum game. I can play another competing MMO without loathing WoW. It’s true that Lord of the Rings Online does some things better than World of Warcraft. The reverse is also obviously true. Who plays what has more to do with personal preference than empirical merits of either game. My fondness for LotRO stems largely from the aesthetic: plain and simple, I think it looks and plays better than WoW. Does that make WoW the devil? Of course not. Plenty of people have tried a competing MMO like LotRO and gone straight back to playing WoW. They obviously think the latter looks and plays better. Who’s right?

Let’s all gather in a circle, hold hands, and agree that everyone is.

PS: WoW is the suxxors.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Flamer

I’m talking about my flamethrower in Fallout 3, not a whacky dandy like Andy Dick. I’m thick of head at times and it took me longer than it should have to realize that small arms don’t work all that well against giant radscorpions or deathclaws; their thick hides must provide the kind of natural armor that small arms munitions hit and then bounce away.

The flamer though, burns through giant radscorpions like butter in a microwave. As the beastie approaches, I start to backtrack. When it’s in close range, I open up the flamer’s nozzle and unleash a veritable hell. With small arms, I rarely got a giant radscorpion to half health before it closed and started to eat me. With my new friend the flamer, I usually go completely unscathed.

It works great on deathclaws too. They’re too fast to totally avoid taking damage from their . . . um, claws of death, but I don’t get my ass kicked nearly as bad as I used to wielding a combat shotgun or Chinese assault rifle.

Even better, I haven’t been using my flamer at all till last night. I’ve accrued more than a 1,000 units of fuel as a result. Needless to say, I’ll be packing this heavy weapon with me wherever I go.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Mines of Moria Goes Live!

Well, it will tomorrow morning at least!

I pre-downloaded the patch and in the midst of installing it as I type this. The expansion is a monster, as some 15,000 different files are being scanned and/or replaced. I think it's going to take a good hour before it's finally finished.

Lukenbach is almost level 48, Kammris extremely close to 45. I'm not sure if either can access the Moria content at those levels, though I suspect Luke a more likely candidate of the two. I little game named Fallout 3 thwarted my plans to have my minstril to 50 by the expansions release. So be it. I have plenty of original LotRO to see before I even touch MoM.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Fallout 3 Too Prone to Crashing

I'm not bashing the game because I have close to fifty hours logged and am nearly 19th level. Still, the game crashes often. Too often. I've trained myself to reflexively hit the quicksave button at more frequent intervals. I don't click as often as I do my weapon's fire button, but it's a close second. The problem is that hitting quicksave sometimes leads to a crash. So one of the few defenses I have against an unwelcome delivery to desktop is also an eager participant.

In lieu of the crashing, I mean to shelve Fallout3 temporarily, monitor Bethesda's site for a patch, and then resume playing when the game is more stable.

Friend Appears on Don't Forget the Lyrics

A good friend of mine flew out to Hollywood months ago to appear on the Fox game show, Don't Forget the Lyrics. He wasn't the main contestant, but a "backup singer," which means he can be called upon to help. Think lifeline from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

The show finally aired this past Thursday and our Saturday night gaming group sat down to watch it last night. It was a trip! Craig was called upon to help early in the show. I can't remember the name of the song, but the lyric he helped clear up was "in the sun." He then sang the song again with his contestant friend. When the band stopped playing, Craig kept belting out the song! He stepped forward and proceeded to give his own little concert! It was equal parts surreal and entertaining.

Craig helped his friend with that song, but ultimately Marcus walked away with $25,000 (only). Fox provides a ton of on demand links for their shows, but not for DFtL.

Otherwise, you too could see the Craigmeister steal the show.

Friday, November 14, 2008

WoW's Silvermoon Server

I've been monitoring Requiem's (my old raiding guild) message boards to get some firsthand accounting on how the new expansion is going. Based on the few postings I've read, it would seem not well. Guildees are reporting queues that exceed one thousand! Another guildee reported that his WotLK DVD didn't even work. After multiple install attempts, he had to download the game from another source.

I haven't read any feedback regarding actual gameplay yet.

French Speciman Hits WotLK 80 Cap

He did it in just 27 hours which is likely 27.5 hours after the game was released.

You can read about it here.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Automakers Next In Line for Taxpayer Handouts

Daniel Mitchell wrote a great op-ed piece on CNN.com entitled "Say no to the auto bailout." I find myself in complete agreement with what he writes, especially the part about rewarding bad management and inflexible labor unions. Some estimate that up to 10% of the American work force is somehow related to the auto industry and that the government has to intervene to ensure that thousands of Americans aren't suddenly thrown into unemployment.

But throwing more money at the Big Three can't be the answer. Like Mitchell advocates, Ford and GM will be better companies if the free market handles the bad management and organizational choices they've made these past decades. I mean, the federal government has long pushed American auto makers for more fuel economical models and the auto makers resisted. Instead of thinking in the long term, they continued building gas guzzlers because of high profit margins and low oil prices. But everything pointed to oil eventually shooting up in price. What was the Big Three's plan B for $150 per barrel oil? They didn't have one and now they're burning through their cash reserves and want the U.S. government to throw even more money into the fire.

I say let them fail. American companies must move away from the moral hazard that has trapped too many of them into lining up for government handouts. It's almost laughable that the shining beacon of free market economics has so suddenly plunged into overt government intervention, manipulation, and flat-out take-over. Republicans frequently accuse Democrats of being Marxist socialists, but any Republican that voted in favor of a bailout had best lower his pointing finger. I can't believe Ford and GM need the U.S. government to tell them to manufacture quality cars that get good gas mileage. They deserve to get their asses kicked by Toyota and Honda. Maybe things will get bad enough, so bad that union contracts will go down right along with the companies they've effectively hamstringed. Perhaps something new and lean could arise from that rubble.

All I know is, I don't want another insurance company, or investment bank, or corporation rescued. The buck stopped with AIG as far as I'm concerned.

Wrath of the Lich King Out Today

Wrath of the Lich King comes out today and I expect sales to be brisk. World of Warcraft continues to fend off all comers as Warhammer Online and Age of Conan both failed to dethrone the king. Actually, I don’t think either one even came close. Still, I hear rumblings that Blizzard’s projected subscriber estimate of 11 million is a paper tiger. I’d love for some industry transparency regarding monthly subscriber totals to definitively shine light on MMOs customer base. WoW is rumored to be supreme, but without actual numbers, nobody really knows for certain.

It’s interesting how much market share WoW holds. Empirically, it does the best job balancing PvE, PvP, and raiding. No other game on the market polishes each of those MMO aspects as well. And I say this as someone that hasn’t played WoW in months and doesn’t plan on picking up the expansion today or anytime soon. Despite the fact that I don’t play it, I recognize Blizzard’s quality control and the failings of the other MMOs.

I have friends who took a break from WoW, but will likely fire their subscriptions back up for WotLK. I know Requiem, my former raiding guild, has been recruiting these last weeks in anticipation of the new raiding opportunities. I’ll be interested to hear what they think of the new 10 man versus 25 man raiding instances. Requiem is a hardcore raiding guild, so I expect that they’ll entirely avoid the 10 man stuff in favor of the 25 man’s more intensive loot tables.

As for me, I’m content with Lord of the Rings Online. I haven’t played it much these last few weeks; Fallout 3 has completely dominated my gaming time. But LotRO also has an expansion coming out, Mines of Moria. It’s out next Tuesday, November 18 and offers a slew of new and interesting content, including legendary weapons. Lukenbach is still well short of the game’s current level cap of 50. I plan on taking my time, however, focusing on leveling Lukenbach to the new cap of 60 and master artisan all his trade skills. I have no short or long terms plans to raid in LotRO. For now, the journey to the cap provides plenty of gaming goodness.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Oh Where Art Thou Nuka-Cola Shipment?

I cleared out that nest of deathclaws for nothing the other day. Turns out Old Olney’s grocery store got wiped out during the nuclear exchange, or in the turmoil immediately following it. The shipment of Nuka-cola Quantum never reached Old Olney to begin with, however. The abandoned truck rested jack-knifed a couple clicks to the east of the town. It had largely been looted, but I snagged a half-dozen Quantums. I’m only mildly bitter that I didn’t need to get my head ripped off a thousand times over.

I made my way to Paradise Falls last night. It’s a slave enclave and I had to pay 500 caps to gain egress. After I scoped the place out, I promptly gunned down the slave leader Entropy and his two slave women bodyguards. This turned the entire town’s slaver army against me and I thoroughly enjoyed the ensuing gun battle.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Mental Floss History of the World

I fancy me some history, mostly because I don't want to be doomed to repeat it.



No, that's not true. I like me some history because truth is almost stranger than fiction. And the Mental Floss History of the World is a great book for the panoramic view of world history.



It's starts at the very, very, very beginning and goes all the way up to the modern age, with an appendix devoted to . . . Canada!

This isn't your dad's history book. Nope, this book is informative and funny. Which makes it also entertaining. Take the author's chronicle of when the Assyrians combined horseback riding with firing a bow and arrow: "When the Assyrians picked up on this skill, bad things happened to their neighbors."

Hilarious!

I most appreciate the Special Report: Mediterranean Fight League, composed of four distinctive rounds. Round 1: Greeks versus Persians; 2: Greeks versus Persians (rematch); 3: Greek versus Greeks (the Greeks turned out to be their own worst enemy. Sound familiar?); and 4: Alexander versus Everyone.

Good stuff, that.

Hate the Deathclaw

In Fallout 3, I’m taking the Nuka-cola challenge. I have to hoard thirty bottles of Nuka-cola Quantum for some nut job in the wastelands. She pointed me to the old Nuka-cola factory and distribution center where I tracked down three major shipments of the radioactive soft drink. One was Super Duper Mart, but I already looted that place. Another was Paradise Falls. And the third was Old Olney Grocery. I traveled to the latter only to promptly get my head ripped off by a Deathclaw.

Let me amend that. Deathclaws. As in plural.

At full health, these things soak damage like Keith Richards does a drum of coke. And they’re fast. And they jump stories-high into the air. One is bad enough, but Old Olney crawls with them. I must have died a dozen times clearing that nest out. I started the onslaught with more than 120 stimpacks. By the time I finished, I was down to 50. My combat shotgun is a shambles from all the rounds it pumped into the mutant juggernauts. It’s my most favorite weapon, especially effective at close range (which is the deathclaws preferred range, as it closes incredibly fast once it spots pretty), but I find precious few of them in the Wastes.

To make matters worse, I didn’t find the grocery. Granted, I’ve been too twitchy to even look. I must look like a shaking, bug-eyed tree-squirrel about to be swooped up by a feathered raptor.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Forty Hours Plus and Still Chugging

I've got more than forty actual hours invested in Fallout 3 and see no signs of abatement. I can't stop playing. My toon is almost 14th level, six levels shy of the cap, but I've barely started the main campaign story line. Side quests, exploration, and looting have consumed most of my time. It's been the finest gaming experience I've had in a long time. In fact, I put Fallout 3 right up there with some of the best games I've ever played. In a bit more time, I might come to proclaim it the very best.

Of particular note, my encounter with Three Dog in the GNR building. A team of Brotherhood of Steel paladins escorted me the short distance I had left to Three Dog. Along the way, a squad of persistent super mutants. We put them down right in front of the GNR building. Everything seemed resolved until we heard a booming in the distance. More followed, increasingly louder until a giant of super mutant burst into the compound. He was massive, more than two stories tall and he began laying waste to everything in his reach.

My quest log prompted me to retrieve the Fat Boy from a fallen paladin. I pulled the rocket launcher and mini nuke ammunition from the armored corpse and took aim. My first nuke flew wide, but yielded radius damage that sent the giant super mutant sprawling. Before he could lumber back to his feet, I loaded another nuke and fired again. This time I hit dead on. The behemoth took the load full into the torso. He exploded into fleshy chunks that rained down throughout the compound satisfyingly.

So fun. So memorable. And just one out of many role-playing experiences.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Is Obama a Stealth Nerd?

In the latest issue of Time, Joel Stein wrote about Barack and the “Urkel Effect.” Joel theorizes that Obama may be cool on the surface, but that really he’s a closest nerd. He quotes another writer, Benjamin Nugent, from his book American Nerd: The Story of My People. Of Barack Obama, McCain, and Palin, Nugent writes,

“He [Obama] would be the guy the jocks didn’t choose to towel-snap, but he would kind of stand there looking disapproving while they towel-snapped. Whereas McCain would be more likely to towel-snap you, and Sarah Palin would make out with the guy who towel-snapped you.”

I can imagine Obama sternly glowering at gratuitous towel-snapping and wedgie wrenching just as easily as I can Palin making out with the school’s varsity quarterback. Hell, I'd snap a dork’s ass beet red if it led to a shot at Palin.

She’s hot.

President-elect Barack Obama

I stayed up late last night watching the election results. Once it became evident that Obama won the nomination, I stayed up even longer to hear McCain give his concession speech, the president-elect his victory.

I thought McCain gave a moving, conciliatory speech when he conceded defeat. I was struck by how sincere a speaker he can be when he’s himself. In giving Obama his sympathies for the recent death of his grandmother, I witnessed a flash of the “real” John McCain. If he conducted himself as he did last night throughout his entire campaign, he might have come closer to winning. I’m always struck by the chameleon nature of our politicians; one minute they savage each other, the next they graciously vow to follow. It’s a puzzling component of American politics, but one that suffers the transition of power patriotically; differences set aside to form a unified front.

I was equally moved by Obama’s speech. I was curious what kind of chord he would strike in speaking victoriously to that massive crowd in Grant Park. Obama so effectively diminished the issue of his race while running for president, I was blindsided by the media suddenly talking about how historic his election is. I had, in these last weeks of the campaign, forgotten that Obama is black. Thousands of other hadn’t though. By the tears of joy on so many faces, I can only imagine how they feel. I share their joy, even as a 38 year old white guy.

I was relieved and inspired by what president-elect Obama said in his celebratory speech. He hinted at the history he made, but was quick to give the credit for its inception to others. I believe him when he says he will bring the two parties together to solve our nation’s problems. I think nearly all Americans are hungry for this development. We don’t just deserve a government that functions well, we desperately need it. I sense America’s power fading. Only strong leadership can reverse the trend.

I grant Americans these next few days to celebrate. But after that, it will be time for president-elect Obama to roll up his shirt sleeves and get to work. He promised much. Perhaps too much in the context of our country’s current economic climate. If President Obama does only half of what he outlined in his campaign, I’ll continue praising and supporting him. If he accomplishes little to nothing, I’ll broodingly regret voting for him. And if he flat-out bungles things, makes things even worse, I’ll despair and perhaps give up on our political system entirely.

So much rides on Obama successfully leading us. If he fails, we’re in big trouble. Not only do our problems remain unsolved, but Americans risk losing a newfound interest and energy in the political process. If he succeeds, the country will rebound stronger than ever.

And so will democracy.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Election Day

I voted this morning. It was a good feeling, mostly because I did so not purely out of civic duty, but because I felt a moral and ethic need. Our government has been badly managed this last decade. Our politicians did the damage, but we're the electorate that voted them into office. The recent financial crisis has reminded me how important it is to stay abreast of national politics, vote for candidates based on issues (rather than style or my favorite issue, "family values"), and then hold them accountable.

Immediately after voting, I went and worked out. An "I Voted" sticker clearly affixed to my jersey, the girl attending the front desk smiled at me and cheerfully asked who I voted for. When I told her Obama, her smile deflated and she responded with a quiet, "oh." I grinned back and then went about the merry business of moving heavy weights small distances in short, controlled bursts. I'm not sure why I so enjoyed crushing her informal morning polling. But I did.

I'll tell you, I voted for Obama more for what he stood for than I did as a vote against McCain or the Republican party. Too much of my voting in recent years has been a vengeful reaction to whomever was formally in power. I don't think Obama completely leveled with us about how he's going to manage $10 trillion in debt and still give 95% of Americans a tax cut. But I do think he stands a greater chance of changing things for the better in the United States than McCain. I also want our troops out of Iraq, post haste. My sense is the Iraq government has been dragging its feet in governing, instead letting our American troops perform the bulk of the work. We ought never have been there in the first place and $10 billion a month is too steep a price tag to justify our current presence there.

I didn't vote straight Democrat, however. I voted for John Culberson for the Texas seat in the House of Representatives. John voted twice against the bailout bill and I respect that immensely. He also favors scrapping or overhauling No Child Left Behind, another position I support. For U.S. Senate, I also voted for John Cornyn. I don't know much about Cornyn's positions, but I will in the coming months if he wins reelection.

Did you vote? If you did, nice work. You now have earned the right to bitch and complain about future issues. If you didn't, then take a seat and STFU. No vote, no voice. If you couldn't take the time to stand in a line (I've stood in longer movie lines), then no one has the time to listen to your unrepresented opinions.

So get out and vote! You have the entire day today to sneak out of work and get it done. Yes, go vote! Even if it's for McCain and his VPILF! McCain is a fine man and I respect anyone who votes for him and can articulate at least one reason why they're doing so, beyond "Um, he's a Republican."

Monday, November 3, 2008

The Thomsons hit the Texas Renaissance Festival yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful Houston fall day, with temperatures around 80 degrees. Very pleasant if you sought shade.

We attended with a cadre of friends. One couple in particular attends every year in costume. Jeff wore a black leather vest and pants, complete with black-sheathed dagger and pouch. Megan wore authentic dress. I can’t give its name justice, but the outfit looked regal, if not blazing warm in the sun. The pair fit right in with the other crowds of costumed folks. In fact, they looked down right tame compared to what some people wore. I’m thinking in particular of some chain mail bikini clad women whose linked chains hid little underneath. Maximum nippage!

I think I want to start wearing a costume myself. Nothing too crazy. Maybe a blue and green plaid kilt, with a white top and some appropriate foot and sock ware. It’d be cool to walk around the grounds with a broad sword strapped to my back. If I start buying the pieces now, I could have a solid costume put together in a few years.

Wifezilla ate some great food yesterday. We started with a gyro in the Greek quarter. We bought the girls steak on a stick and a stalk of corn on the cob in the French section; Claire didn’t like the spices on the steak, so Hallie and I ate most of that. Melanie downed most of the cob. Come to think of it, I wonder if Hallie and Claire got properly fed that day. Seems unlikely. I also tasted some guy's warm nuts. He was offering them to everyone that past by, be they man or woman. I sampled almonds but ultimately bought the cashews.

I’m looking forward to maybe hitting the Dallas Festival in the spring. That will hinge on my brother, as I doubt we’d go by ourselves.

Side Quest Scavenging

In the midst of a hectic work schedule, mostly from Wifezilla’s orchestra program, I’ve been squeezing in as much Fallout 3 as I can. I’ve logged close to twenty hours so far and have some preliminary observations.

First and foremost, Fallout 3 manages to incite a role-playing vibe I haven’t felt from a game in a long time. Even more so than The Witcher and Mass Effect. I have barely touched the main campaign of trying to track down my father. Instead, I’ve been completely side quests and clearing out sewer basements, subway tunnels, and supermarkets. The fact that I find myself exceedingly entertained and I have barely begun the main story line speaks volumes of the quality of this game.

The side quests are a big change to what other games offer. There aren’t many of them, but the few that are offered spiral out like a Slinky shuffling down a staircase. The side quests start out as X, morph into Y, end with Z, and often slingshot a tiny wrap-up that brings you back to A. It’s a satisfying experience that moves past the drudgery of killing ants to collect eight antennae, the standard fare for RPGs, especially MMOs.

Grayditch’s THOSE! is a great example a typical Fallout 3 side quest. The quest began as I cleared a causeway of land mines just south of the SuperDuper Mart. A street urchin of a boy approached me, declaring frantically that monsters roamed Grayditch and that his father left their house to fight them. The boy pleaded that I find his father. I took pity on the boy and agreed to track down his father, telling him to hide in the meantime.

When I got to Grayditch, I found the wrecked suburb infested with giant fire-breathing ants. The fire-breathing was a revelation. I had encountered giant ants before, but none of them breathed fire. Approaching one with my newly crafted Shishkabob melee weapon (forged with a fueled motorcycle gas tank, lawn mower blade, pilot light, and fire hose nozzle), imagine my surprise at being greeted with a torrent of flame that lit me up like a California wildfire.

I quickly changed tactics and switched over to my hunting rifle. I must have killed a dozen of the deadly insects at range making my way to the boy’s home. Inside the house, the father lay dead, surrounded by three giant ants. I went back and reported the bad news to the boy. He in turn told me about the strange scientist that worked with his dad on some project. The Slinky took another step and now I was charged with tracking down the source of the fire-breathing ants. Once I found the source, the quest shifted to re-splicing the brood hatch’s DNA while keeping the Queen alive. And so on and so forth.

I take frequent breaks from side quest story lines to simply scavenge and loot the vast landscape. I find this to be the game’s strongest role-playing element. It’s also some of the most fun I have with Fallout 3. Nothing is randomly placed in the game. The world teems with abandoned buildings and dark sewer lines, ripe with danger and loot. Very often, I revisit a location that had previously skirted while side questing; the quest done, I return to loot ammo, books, weapons, and cheetah patterned nightwear.

Yes, you heard me. The pajamas have good stats too, but it’s part of a side quest so I’ll likely deliver it to its rightful owner.

The game really does surpass my expectations. I played Fallout and Fallout 2 and can testify that the latest version is as good, if not better than its storied predecessors. If you hated Oblivion, you might still enjoy Fallout 3. Its foundation is Oblivion, but it plays much differently. I look to see this game as a strong contender for various 2008 Game of the Year awards.