Harry Potter and Another Short Post.

     Hey all, sorry its been a while, but I've been pretty busy lately, but I'll try to make up for it over the next few days. To start with, how many of you like the Harry Potter series? If you don't stop reading now and just skip to the song of the day. But if you do, by all means, read on.

      I picked up the first book when it first came out, intrigued by the premise, and after reading the whole thing cover to cover in a matter of days, I was hooked and couldn't wait for the next book. Soon, it became an obsession to read all of them. And I pretty much had a nerdgasm when the movie came out. And while they weren't all the greatest book-to-movie translations I had seen, a few of them were pretty decent, imo. Show of hands, who's seen the last movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II?

      All-in-all, it was a decent flick. I can understand some of the liberties they took, i.e. making the final battle with Voldemort longer and more drawn out instead of the way Rowling wrote it in the book: Hey, Harry's alive; look Neville killed the snake; guess what? I'm the true master of the Elder Wand; wand clash: dead. They pretty much did the same thing, only Harry did a lot more running around from Voldy and kids did a lot of running from snakey. But it was decent I thought. Fairly close to the book, but I'm sure there are those who nerd raged about little things, like the centaurs not being in the final fight, etc. But I thought it was acceptable. Well, now I think I'll end this and just jump to the SotD.

Song of the Day!! (Fanfare here.)

    Today's song is Beethoven's 5th as performed by Steve Vai. Allright, #1, Steve is an amazing guitarist, period. He's great at simply wildly shredding on the guitar or all your technical mumbo jumbo. And his pieces are all pretty interesting. I've got way too much Steve Vai for my own good. But this one is pretty much Beethoven's 5th symphony re-imagined on an electric guitar, and I think he's done a great job of it. But I just like the 5th anyway, so I may be a little biased, idk.  So here, for your listening pleasure, is Beethoven's 5th by Steve Vai.

*NOTE: This is not an official music video. Just a collection of pictures with the music in the background. You don't have to watch, but you do have to listen.  Enlighten yourself.*

Goldeneye 007 Revamp? Hit or Miss?

     So I recently started playing Goldeneye 007, the Wii edition. Now, going into this, I must say, I'm a little apprehensive. The original Goldeneye for the N64, was awesome wrapped into a neat little package. Sure, it had its glitches and flaws, but really, what game doesn't? What it did was it made up for whatever flaws it had, ten-fold. 

     The story was great. Sure, it was based off a movie, but how many games nowadays do you actually like to play that are based off of movies? Oh, I'm sure there are a few out there that ppl geek out over, PotC or Harry Potter, but seriously, how good are those games in relation to the movie? In my opinion, not so much. I think this is probably the #1 movie based game that I know of. Feel free to insert your own opinions. 

     The soundtrack was awesome. How many people know the stereotypical Bond theme? A lot. But think of all the other pieces of music you can remember from this game. I don't know about you, but this game had some of the most memorable music for me. Next to Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda, or Final Fantasy. Granted, those three have the most memorable soundtracks known to man in my opinion, but I really think Goldeneye ranks at least in the top 10. 

    Gameplay was phenomenal. If you didn't love the campaign (which you should), you must've loved the multiplayer. 4-player split screen, with a great character base to pick from, and a huge variety of weapons made this a must have for parties back in the day. Well... parties for us nerds. Haha. Show of hands, who loved playing Proxy Mines in The Caves level? Never knowing where to step next, and when you misstepped, it triggered an explosion that made everyone's screen shake from just how many mines you blew up. Classic.

     So how does the remake match up?!?  Mind you, I've only played the first level so far, and I will submit a final review after I finish it (which could take a while). BUT, so far, it's not bad. It's not up to legendary status for sure, but it's not bad. They changed the soundtrack on me, and I was gettin hyped for the music that I remembered. Obviously updated the graphics, as well as the story. Bruce Feirstein originally wrote Goldeneye, so it would be natural that he wrote this remastered version, so story-wise, it's not too far off the original. Also, a big notable difference, they changed Bond. In the original, he was played by Pierce Brosnan (pictured below) at the time.

       

     Now, they've updated it to match with the current 007, Daniel Craig (pictured below).

     Personally, I don't really care. I've accepted that Sean Connery can't be Bond forever, though I like him the best. I will say, Daniel isn't a bad Bond. Yell at me all you want, I don't care. Yes, I've heard he's gay, but he can also act, so I don't really care what he does off-screen.
     I'm getting distracted now... But, the game does look nice. I'm anxiously awaiting the re-revamp that's coming to the PS3 and Xbox360, so I better have my 360 back by then. It will feature an HD graphic bump (obviously, because it's going onto consoles with better graphics capabilities), an achievement/trophy list, and also motion sensing capabilities for those who like the PS Move or whatever that is. I haven't really gotten into the motion catching craze beyond playing the Wii, so followers should let me know how they like it.

Wow... this has dragged on... let's get right to it then.

Time For the SotD!
     Hope you all don't mind if I force a song on you today instead of being random. You don't really have a choice, so here goes. Today's is Buried Alive by Avenged Sevenfold off the album, Nightmare. Say all you want about this band, this album, or whatever, I'll defend this band to the grave.  Now, this particular album is very split, almost perfectly even, between heavy songs and soft songs. This one is a balance. It starts out slow and with a guitar riff that I find addictive, and slowly builds to the chorus which is a moderate kick in the teeth. Nothing too rough. Then it slows back down. Builds up to the chorus again, and hits you once more. Then they shift gears, take a bridge, then a guitar solo, then they really starting bustin your chops. Love the lyrics to this song, love the sound, the beat... everything. This is in my top 10 favorite songs I think. I have probably 50 songs in my top 10, but that's besides the point. Enjoy this piece that would go on my mix tape of hits for this band. Crank up the volume, sit back, relax, and let me know how that goes down.  


Note: This isn't the official music video (should be obvious), its just some video someone put together and even added lyrics for you. How nice.

Peeling My Skin And A Wedding

     So my sunburn from the aforementioned trip to Cedar Point has made it to the point where I'm now peeling the outer layer of skin off my shoulders. I laugh at the feeling. lol. But now I'm self-conscious about not wearing a shirt. :\
     On an unrelated note, I took this weekend off work, because I'm going to a cousin's wedding down in Cincinatti, OH. Should be fun, but that also means that after this post, I'm taking the weekend off from this too. And Sunday also just so happens to be mine and my fiancée's 8 year anniversary, so that day will be off-limits too. So Monday will be the next time you hear from me. Hopefully I'll have something worthwhile to talk about then. But since I should be packing up and getting ready to head out, I have to end this early. Sorry for the short post. But, it just wouldn't be my post without...

The Song of the Day!!!
     Now, the question is, do I give you a song I want, or do I randomize it? Well, random it is, since I can't decide. Ahh, one of my favorite bands....  Today's song: Dead On Arrival by Fall Out Boy from the album Take This to Your Grave. I love Fall Out Boy. Definitely in my top 5 favorite bands. This song was also featured in Rock Band, and Lord knows, I love my Rock Band and Guitar Hero. According to the members of Fall Out Boy, this song was supposed to convey that they were homesick due to all the shows and travelling to all the different venues.  This song starts fast and loud, and ends fast and loud. It was also one of my first loves from this band. I really enjoy every album put out by them, and if any of you were sad to hear they're not putting out anymore music, Patrick Stump has already put out a solo EP called Truant Wave, and you can also preview his solo album Soul Punk due to be released Oct. 18th. I'll put a video of that song in here too as an added bonus and a sort of apology for the short post. Its called This City and it features Lupe Fiasco. Enjoy.

Dead On Arrival

This City ft. Lupe Fiasco

Am I Going To Culinary School?

     Today was an interesting day at work, to say the least, because somehow, even though we lost the highest paid cook in the restaurant, we aren't making labor cost (which is BS), so my cooks were all cut long before their time, leaving me to be the one man circus at the restaurant. Blah. So after everything's said and done, my manager comes up to me, and asks, "So, have you ever thought of going to chef school?" I just looked at her for a moment, and instead of taking the smart-ass route, I figured I would put on my nice guy face and answered her seriously. I wanted to say, "No, I had never considered that! My whole career is based around food, and yet I've never thought of going to school for it! Oh and by the way, if you pull stitches out of a wound that isn't fully healed, it reopens and bleeds like new."

     The reason I bring up wounds is because when I graduated high school, I applied for culinary arts school through a Cordon Bleu program, and immediately got accepted. I went on a campus tour clear over in Pittsburgh, and loved it all. Then we went to discuss finances, I couldn't get in. I had no credit experience, neither did my mom (as her ex husband's would always put the credit cards and loans in their names, not both) and we didn't know anything about financial aid. Though we applied for FAFSA, they couldn't help, so I was forced to give up Culinary Arts school. I was crushed. Yes, I have plans to get back to that school, but it just feels weird now. I feel like that middle-aged person going back to school filled with little 18-22 yr olds. I mean, I'm not middle-aged yet (24), but that's still how I'll feel when I get there when I'm about 26 or so. There's a great many plus sides to this, but I can't shake the feeling for some reason. So I wanted to be extremely sarcastic to her, but she couldn't have known about any of that, so I didn't... Oh well.  

Well, sorry for the shorter post, but its time to move on...

What's Playin Right Now??

     Today is.... (random random random.... don't like this song.... random random random.) Heh, heh, heh...

Bodies by Drowning Pool from their album, Sinner. A classic song. For some reason, many people don't know that this is Drowning Pool, and they credit it to some other heavy band, like Disturbed or Slipknot or whoever... In truth, these guys sound nothing like those other bands. They have a very unique sound aside from the lead singer's voice sounding completely different from the other two bands. Anyway. 

   Some things you may not know about this song. Bodies was the lead single from Drowning Pool's debut album, Sinner in 2001, and stayed their #1 hit until 2008, when 37 Stitches was released on the Full Circle album. According to the band:

   

  "Bodies' was written about the brotherhood of the moshpit and never about violence."

     And one fact that made me lol irl was Bodies was used by interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in 2003. It was played repeatedly over 10 days during the interrogation of  Mohamedou Ould Slahi while also being exposed to different lighting patterns. Personally, I wouldn't think of listening to Bodies as torture, but maybe over 10 days, I would definitely get sick of it! So give it a listen and a watch, and enjoy! 


*~*WARNING!!!*~*
THIS VIDEO HAS SOME CRAZY LIGHTING EFFECTS!!! IF YOU OR SOMEONE AROUND YOU IS EPILEPTIC, YOU/THEY MIGHT FREAK OUT!!!

   

Sun Burned and Exhausted.... But Lovin It!

So I'm back from Cedar Point, and it was pretty fun all things considered. I'm noticeably pinker than when I left and exhausted from all the walking and yelling and everything to do there!  I got there, and it was over 90 degrees, which made it near unbearable to be out in the open, but through lots of water and strategic standing under shady spots, we survived. I went on the Disaster Transport, an interesting roller coaster built all indoors, amongst other rides. Lines were HUGE all day so we didn't get to go on everything we wanted, but we still had fun. And soon into the day, it stormed really bad. My fiancee didn't want to stay outside in the thunderstorm, but my friends and I loved it. We waited out the first storm (yes I said first for a reason) in the arcade, which is pretty impressive. Not Gameworks big, but it was pretty large. I'm an old pro at Dance Dance Revolution, and they had SuperNova there, so I had to give it a go. And then between my friend and myself, we won about 300 tickets, which we ended up giving to a nice kid... mostly cuz they didn't have any candy! lol.  No one is too old for video games and candy. Period.
     So after the rain subsided, we headed back out thinking that the crowd would have diminished. Not so much. So we walked around, hit up another ride or two, and then decided it was a good time to hit the water rides. We decided on Snake River Falls first, as there is NO WAY possible to get out of that one without being drenched to the bone. Opened in 1993, Snake River Falls (see pic)  was deemed the tallest and steepest water ride in the world at that time. Currently the tallest and steepest water ride goes to Perilous Plunge, at 115 ft, and an angle of descent at 75°, just 15° short of straight vertical and is located at Knott's Berry Farm in California, also owned by the same company as Cedar Point.

      Its a fairly simple ride, but it attracts thousands of guests each season. Each boat can carry roughly 12-16 ppl, and as you can see, after the ride, you can get off, and stand on the bridge where the boat makes it's splashdown. So if you didn't get enough water the first time, there's always another chance.
     As we get off this ride, it starts absolutely pouring, just short of torrential. At this point, its already 8:00, so we decide to call it a day. So, being soaked already, we just leave our bathing suits on and just walk in the rain, enjoying stomping in puddles and water fun we hadn't indulged in since younger times. And we weren't the only ones. It seemed as the though the whole park had been turned into little kids again. People jumping in puddles, splashing each other, just generally having a good time. Apparently, it takes much more than a little rain to ruin the spirit there.  So that was fun...  Well, other than that, the weekend was uneventful, save for lots of business at the restaurant today. So. Onto......

What's Stuck In My Head?!?
     I know, deviating from the norm... Scaaaary! But hey, embrace the random and enjoy all of life's curveballs, even the small ones. lol.  
     So, today's song is a little heavy--er, but its been stuck in my head all day long, and I gotta get it out somehow.  So without further ado.... Drumroll....
      Psychosocial by Slipknot off of the album, All Hope Is Gone.  Now, if you don't like Slipknot because they're too heavy, or you don't like the lyrics, that's your prerogative, and you can skip the rest of this blog if you want. BUT! I encourage everyone to at least give this song at least 1 listen if you haven't heard it before. And if you can't decide if you like it, listen to it one more time. It's a pretty popular song from them, and most Slipknot fans should know it. Now, this song has a lot of lyrics that are hard to understand because he does the "death-growling" voice for the lyrics between choruses. But the chorus has a nice melody to it, and believe it or not, Slipknot's singer really does have a nice voice. This chorus always sticks with me, after I've listened to it, while I'm listening to it, and even now, when I'm just talking about it. The video can be scary for some of you who aren't used to some of this type of stuff, so if this is your first step into the genre, you can always just hit play on the movie below and not watch it. But in my opinion, Slipknot has a very clean sound in most of this song especially between the drums and guitar in the beginning when they hit faster notes together. In some bands, you'll hear them start to get off beat from each other just the slightest hair, but this sounds pretty nice to me. And I constantly rave about the chorus, because I really like everything about it. The lyrics, the melody, and his voice for sure. But don't take my opinion. Form your own. Enjoy.

Cedar Point

   Hi all. So tomorrow, a bunch of friends/coworkers and I are going to spend the entire day at Cedar Point, so naturally, I won't be posting anything tomorrow, because I'll be too busy getting sunburned, looking at women in swimsuits (namely, my fiancee. But others too! lol), and riding lots and lots of rides... or mainly standing in line for lots and lots of rides.
     For those of you who have no idea what Cedar Point is, it is one of the largest amusement parks in the world. One of them, anyway.

Here's a view from across the lake:

And here's an aerial view:

Fun facts about Cedar Point:

1. Its in Sandusky, Ohio, and it's located on a peninsula jutting out into Lake Erie. 
2. At 75 rides, it's has more rides than any other amusement park. 
3. It's been voted best amusement park in the world for the past 13 yrs by Amusement Today. 
4. It has 17 roller coasters, more than any other park out there. 
5. Its most recent coaster, built in 2007, is called The Maverick. It's not the fastest, nor the tallest ride there, but it is arguably one of the best. The first drop is 95 degrees... for those of you who don't know, that's more than vertical, you actually dip in before coming vertical again. Preeetty intense.
6. This year, 2011, they unveiled their brand-new ride, Windseeker, which is like the chain swing ride, where you sit in a swing and it twirls you around gently, except its 301 FEET IN THE AIR. Aaand, it twirls you at about 30 mph. Pretty decent clip.

     So yeah. My buddy and I are heading out tonight to sleep at my parents' place, because we don't want to have to get up by 530 in get there when it opens. They only live about 30 min away. Much better.  So that's why I'm typin this earlier in the day than usual. Maybe I'll put up a pic of our trip. If I feel like it.

Umm, in other news, for those of you who might actually pay attention to some of this, since my 360 is going in for repairs, I'm forced to find other game outlets, and so far, its been Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. I gotta say, I was very skeptical of the 3DS when it first debuted, but as my DSLite had just broken, I figured, the worst that would happen is I would leave the 3D feature off. But I'll admit, I was genuinely shocked when I put in OoT3D. Very nicely remastered. Everything the way I remembered it, and more. And the 3D is very nice. The only downside, is that you have to have the 3DS situated at a certain distance from you, or you'll be seeing double. And you have to look directly at it, or you'll see double. Because the way the 3D system works, is instead of overlapping the same image and having you wear glasses to combine the image to give a 3D effect, the screen sends light to each eye individually, so that when your eyes perceive it, your brain interprets it as 3D. But, when only one eye is getting the light properly, it messes up the effect.


Tl;dr - 3DS is nice, just make sure you're using it properly.

Now for my only regular segment on this blog:

What I'm Listening to Right Now!!
     Today's is a great song: Voodoo by Godsmack off their self-titled album. Now, if you're more familiar with recent Godsmack, like their recent hit, Crying Like A Bitch or anything else off of their album, The Oracle, you'll likely not recognize this song as them. This is a much more... idk, mellow beat. Its a very vocal piece, and most of the instrumentals are dominated by the bass, and most of the drum beat is played on the toms. I instantly fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, and I still love listening to it, when I just wanna chill out and listen to some grooves. There's no real big guitar solo, or drum solo, or anything like that. Its kind of hard to describe the whole experience, so you should probably just listen to it... maybe this is a good time to start including the music video in my posts... Check it out. Enjoy.

What do you think? Like? No? Whatever. I do. So, I'll be taking the rest of the day off and tomorrow as well, so I'll be back Sunday, probably more sunburned and sore than ever before.

Jacqueline Carey Book Signing and Stuff.

     So today Jacqueline Carey was in Lansing doing a general Q&A and book signing. For those of you who don't know her, or are too lazy to Google her name, she is the author of a few different book series, more notably, 3 trilogies: Kushiel's Legacy: which actually includes two trilogies. The 3rd trilogy is set in the same universe, only about a century after the events of the first two trilogies and instead of the Kushiel's surname, they take on the Naamah's name.
      So anyway, the series takes place centuries before present day, in and around Europe, and follows the story of Phedre, who is to make a long story short, is/becomes the foremost courtesan in the realm. It's a sci-fi series with multiple deities (Kushiel is the god of punishment, and Naamah is the goddess of desire), and a very strong emphasis on sex, in all its forms.  I read them and thoroughly enjoyed them all. Its not for everyone, but I thought it was a good read.
  
So that was fun.

Other than that, today was unproductive. So let's move on to....

What's On My Media Player?!? (Does that title work better?)

Today, it's Prayer of the Refugee by Rise Against. This is one of the many bands I got turned onto by Guitar Hero. This song was on the bonus songlist from Guitar Hero 3, and a great song in my humble opinion. Actually, I really just like a lot of Rise Against. They're mostly loud and fast, and yet they have some good melodies, nice and meaningful lyrics. And F you ppl who have some problem with your emotions and don't like feeling the music you're listening to or thinking that heavier bands can't sing about love or some BS like that. I think a song with real heart in the lyrics and a rocking beat, nice sick riffs, and a good flow that really makes me feel the band's mood is a great song.

But I digress.

Anyway, Prayer of the Refugee. Starts out with a few simple guitar chords, starts to build, adding bass, drums, and soft lyrics, then really kicks it into gear, like many other Rise Against songs. And I think the lead singer said it well in their concert:

"This song goes out to anybody here who believes that maybe, just maybe, we were all born with a moral obligation to leave this world a better place, then the world that we found."

That speaks to me. Sooo, on that note. I'm signin off. Deuces!