Conflagration

Time for a change.

2010-02-16T09:05:00.002-06:00

Greetings my friends.

I'm posting this to let you know that as of today, I will no longer be updating Conflagration.

The reason? Well because we've moved homes over to the fine folks at Wordpress!!

Conflagration, Version 2, can now be found at thebmatt.wordpress.com!

Head on over there and take a look around, folks! I do hope you'll enjoy it, because I'm loving what all it has to offer.

Avatar is a freaking REDEMPTION story, you morons!!

2010-01-12T17:04:00.000-06:00

Sigh.

If I hear one more person blast Avatar for being an anti-capitalistic, anti-militaristic, pro-nature worshipping, white-people-are-evil-racists movie that isn't worth anything, I am going to punch them. Inna jimmies. If they don't have them, it'll be to the gut.

Seriously. Shut the hell up. All of you. You're idiots.

This is a film about a dude who's willing to do whatever it takes, hurt whomever or destroy whatever will get in his way, and doesn't believe in a thing beyond what he can see, all for selfish reasons, discovering that there is a much wider view of the universe than he has been led to believe, including a God figure that provides not just for the "chosen people", but any who will follow him. He changes. He sacrifices all that he knows for a better life, a simpler life, and relies on faith when all seems hopeless. And in the end, his example inspires others to do the same. He opposes those who kill and destroy for their own ends.

Are we noticing any parallels here?

Let's try looking a bit beyond the surface next time, shall we?

2009 Predictions wrapup!

2010-01-05T18:44:00.000-06:00

Howdy everyone. You might remember back in January of last year that I made a set of 10 predictions that I thought would come true in 2009. Let's take a look at how I did, shall we?

1. The digital TV transition will be mostly hitch-free.
Yeah, I'm gonna call this one correct. There was a lot of speculation that a ton of people would be suddenly unable to watch TV and wouldn't know why, and that it would cause a firestorm of complaining, something that would be newsworthy. As far as I can tell, that didn't happen, probably because most new TVs sold for the past few years have all had built in digital tuners and the continues information campaigns caught most of the rest.

2. iTunes will cave to the pressure and go fully DRM free in music.
Kaboom. And about dang time too. 2 for 2 so far!

3. A really good Sci-Fi MMO will both come out and succeed.
Ooops. Here's our first biff. The Knights of the Old Republic MMO I talked about when I initially made this post has not yet been released, nor has Star Trek Online. The MMO space was still dominated, and quite hardily, by World of Warcraft.

4. The new Star Trek film will both be the Nerdtacular 2009 film, and will not be remembered fondly.
I am happy to say that in this one, I was only half right. It WAS the 2009 Nerdtacular film, but holy COW was it good. At the time I made this, we really didn't know much about this film, but there was a lot of speculation that caused longtime Trek fans to be nervous. We needn't have worried, because this film was spec-friggin-tacular. One of my favorite films of the year.

5. Both Marvel and DC will release more superhero films which futher build up to an eventual Avengers and/or Justice League movie.
Swing and a miss. Nothing from either of these 2 companies that built up to a big "team" superhero film.

6. The worship of Jesus Christ will explode in a formerly "closed-off" country somewhere in the world.
This one is hard to say, because I don't have any real proof to show this, given that most mainstream news sources won't cover something like this. I have heard, from several friends at my church in Waco, stories of large numbers of peoples coming to knew Jesus in several locations, including Vietnam. I trust these people absolutely, and since it's my blog and I don't really need to prove this to anyone, I'm calling this one correct, and happily.

7. Two out of the three major missing iPhone 3G features (cut and paste, Multimedia messaging, and turn-by-turn GPS directions) will be added via firmware this year
Two out of three. We got Cut and Paste and MMS for sure, but the spoken turn-by-turn directions are still a no. Yeah, that's right, I said they're a no. Why? Because the ludicrously expensive TomTom app and the even-worse AT&T "Navigation Plan" do not even come close to counting. They're pathetic. Actually, the GPS in the phone itself is probaly the one thing I absolutely HATE the most about the iPhone, because it doesn't even work. I know Tom Merritt over at CNET has predicted for the past 2 years that standalone GPS units would fade away as they were rolled more and more into cellphones and similar all-in-one devices. Personally, I don't see it, but my only experience is with the iPhone, and it not only shows me in the wrong area all the time, it also drops my location, repeatedly. Still, this prediction is a solid yes.

8. I will acquire one of the three current major game consoles this year, only to have the next generation of consoles be announced.
Wow, wrong on both counts. Didn't buy ANY of these consoles, and there's no new console news at ALL. Weird.

9. Megan and Julie will be living in the garage apartment before February ends.
I was kind of reaching for a prediction here. This seemed like something good at the time. Russell got em in there in time, though.

10. Josh and Angie's baby will be a girl.
Much to Josh's happiness, I was wrong here. He's a boy. I'm his Godfather. ^.^

So all in all, I got 6 completely right, 3 completely wrong, and about half and half on one. Not too bad, overall.

I don't really have any set predictions for 2010. I could do some for technology, but the folks at Buzz Out Loud pretty much covered that fairly well in this episode. I'd recommend you all start listening to that podcast this year and keep yourself informed on tech!

I could do some personal predictions, but none of them would be terribly interesting. I have plenty of HOPES for this coming year, and lots of wonder about all the possibilities it's got to offer, but nothing I can really "predict", per se. I'm just gonna look forward to what 2010 has to offer!

Merry Christmas ya'll!

2009-12-21T22:42:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, what few readers of Conflagration I have left! Heh.

In all honesty, I hope all of you guys have a very good Christmas. I hope God fills all of your homes with joy, blessings, and love. I hope you enjoy seeing your families or friends, whatever it may be. And I hope you all never forget the magical joy of this season.

As the year winds down, folks tend to look back on the year in retrospect, kinda evaluate where things are. Me, well, while the year has had it's up and downs in various places, and I have some regrets, there are 2 key factors that have entered my life this year that have made it absolutely a good year. The first one would be Josiah Henry, the son of my beloved friends Josh and Angie Henry, and whom I am proud to have been named the Godfather of. He's ridiculously cute and I'm amazed just thinking about what all is going to come out of his life, all the potential inside him.

The other key factor? A beautiful woman named Karen Wilson. A lady who is amazing in SO many aspects, and I adore so very much. Our relationship is one of the most amazing things to ever happen in my life, and I am so happy that she'll be moving here soon. We haven't always had a whole lot of time to be together, but when we are, everything just seems better. I know the whole thing is going to change once we're able to see each other every day if we want, and I'm beyond happy. I know she'll be doing something she loves: helping God's children who are going through hard times. I can't tell you guys how happy I am for her because of that. I don't know the words to express it right. I say all this with complete honesty though, it's not just a side benefit to having her here, closer to me. Yes, obviously, I am extremely thrilled about that, but having her working for something that she truly loves, that's what brings more joy to me. I need you guys to know that, to understand that, because it's really important to me that you do. I'm praying for God to use her. Not for anything huge, or showy, or something that'll get her recognition, because I know that isn't as important to her as this: I pray that just one, at the very least, just one person will believe God is real because of her faith and her love for Him and her love for His people. Because nothing would make her happier than that.

Do I have regrets? Sure I do. There's plenty of things I regret, but if there's one thing I've had to have beaten into my head over and over, it's that you can't change the past, all you can do is make the future better. Well, I'm taking all those things I regret, and I'm gonna do all I can to change things for the better. To all those I have hurt or neglected my friendships with, I am sorry. Know I love you all. I do want to be a more active friend in your life again, if you'll have me.

I really think 2010 is going to be an epic year. There's so much possibility in store for me, for all of my friends, for my family, for everyone now that I think about it. I really hope there's a lot of Epic in it for all of you guys.

In the meantime, I'm going to look forward to Christmas...and New Year's with my beautiful girlfriend. Oh...and having a week and a half off from work after tomorrow! Love you guys, and once again, Merry Christmas!

Tis the Holiday Season!

2009-12-05T17:05:00.004-06:00

I know I'm way overdue for updating this, but I'm actually about to go Christmas shopping, so I'll just hit a few quick points.

1. Karen is amazing, I had so much fun when she was here for Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to see her in a few short days for her graduation!

2. If you're so inclined to purchase something for me for Christmas, thank you. It means a lot to me. You can find a list of things I'd like at my Amazon.com wishlist.
http://amzn.com/w/257AL93EL6GZ1

3. Champions Online was fun for a while, but ultimately several factors came together to make it not really enjoyable in the long fun. The graphics engine is terribly designed, the questing is repetitive and dull (bad for a game that lends itself well to making lots of different characters), the statistics and character building system is insanely overly complicated, and it does not lend itself well to community building. I did enjoy some of it's features (the character creator has a LOT of options and the Sidekicking system does wonders for getting folks to group together at any level), but it's got a long way to go to come close to WoW, and I've canceled my account until these issues are resolved.

4. Speaking of WoW, my Shaman's level 78, the druid's gotten some great gear out of Ulduar, and I'm looking VERY forward to exploring Icecrown Citadel with my raid team next week.

5. You might wanna keep an eye on the Doghouse Podcast at www.Doghousesystems.com. I'm not gonna say why just yet, but...just be ready for the next episode. ^.^

Okay, off to go shopping. Later everyone.

Playing Catch-up. Not Ketchup. Though that IS tasty...

2009-10-21T17:25:00.000-05:00

Howdy folks, I know it's been a long time. I been very busy, what with crazy stuff going on at work, busy weekends, and as much time with my beautiful and lovely Karen as is humanly possible!

This past weekend, Karen was here with me for 4 days. We had a blast together, hitting up the State Fair of Texas, the Fort Worth Zoo, and plenty of delightful little eateries around here. I was extremely sad to see her go, but I know it's not too much longer until the next time we can see each other (which will be around her birthday). Hopefully soon we can be a lot closer to each other after she graduates!! I adore her so much.

Funny little sidenote: on the Sunday before she left, I fired up my laptop and got her to try out World of Warcraft. She made a little Blood Elf Rogue (durn Blood Elves!) andI got her walking around, looking at quests, and making with the stabby stabby! I definitely think she got the basics down pretty quick, and seemed to be enjoying it. After she got back home, she told me she was having withdrawls of me, Firefly (which she had never seen and we got through 2 and 1/2 discs of), and WoW. Hehehe. My girlfriend is an extremely gorgeous geek. I think I'm the luckiest dude on the planet.

Probably my favorite part of the State Fair? The bird show. Seriously, it was one of the coolest things I've watched. They had a wide variety of bird species ranging from exotic singing parrots, to crows which could retrieve dollar bills, to a stork which flew low over the crowd and nearly hit Karen, and a lot in between. I love animals, and most birds are pretty high up on that list, so this show was a wonder to see. Incidentally, if you ever want to know what my favorite color is, search online for an image of a Hyacinth Macaw. Their feathers are a beautiful dark blue that I just love. The Fair's over now, sadly, but next year I highly recommend you go and see this show, if nothing else. It's awesome. Incidentally when we went to the Fort Worth Zoo, it made going through the raptor canyon area a lot more enjoyable, having learned so much and witnessed the bird's behaviors in a semi-uncaptive environment. Which was really nice, considering that my usual favorite portion of the zoo, the Herpetarium, was closed down for renovation and relocation. Grrrrr....FAIL, Fort Worth Zoo. Bleh! Oh well, someday the snakes will return!

In my last entry, I talked about the Mimiron Hard Mode encounter in the Ulduar dungeon of World of Warcraft.

What I didn't mention was that all the other bosses have a similar "Hard Mode" achievement, in which you purposefully make the encounter more difficult for a better challenge and better loot as well.

If you manage to accomplish all of these achievements, you earn a meta-achievement called "Glory of the Ulduar Raider". And you get a reward for your efforts, a reward that serves not only as an awesome looking form of transportation, but a mark of distinction, that your team was able to accomplish the truly difficult.

That reward takes the form of a Proto-Drake mount. This one has been magically bound in metal as a hatchling, and now it's fully grown, covered in metallic plate that's slightly rusted. Hence, his name: The Rusted Proto-Drake. Rusty or not, I think he looks awesome. Here's a screenshot of my 10-man team on our new mounts.

We'd been working on this since gaining our first hard mode back on the 20th of May, and finished it off on October 7th with our defeat of Yogg-Saron on his Hard Mode, having the assistance of only 1 of the Keepers. Under the normal fight, all four keepers assist you.

This fight is utterly crazy as it is. One of the mechanics of the fight is a numerical value known as your Sanity. Getting damaged by Yogg-Saron will lower your sanity, and if it drops to zero, you go insane, and Yogg essentially mindcontrols you into attacking your fellow players. You normally can restore your sanity by standing in one of the green beams of light that Freya, one of the keepers, places around the room.

In the Hard Mode, Freya is not present, only Thorim is. Thorim must be present as he is the only one who can kill Yogg's Immortal Guardians in Phase 3 of the fight. You thus have to manage your sanity by taking as little damage as possible.

For our successful attempt, we had 2 players down when we reached phase 3, and most of us were EXTREMELY low on Sanity. During Phase 3, Yogg Saron casts a spell called Lunatic Gaze. While this is active, anyone looking at Yogg takes damage and loses Sanity. If you're low on Sanity, you have to watch the timer for when Lunatic Gaze is about to go active, and turn away from him before that happens. If not, you're that much closer to going insane. Yogg will constantly spawn Immortal Guardians, which must be killed. Normally when they reach 1% of their health, they cannot be killed by players anymore. Thorim, however, has the power to kill them.

Normally, the tanks and the melee DPS focus on bringing these guardians down, while all ranged focuses completely on ripping Yoggy apart. However, because I was so low on sanity, they told me to stay facing the Guardians, away from Yogg, and help bring them down. What followed was a lot of on-the-fly-moving folks around as people got too low on Sanity to safely attack Yogg. It was slow going, but it was going. Yogg's health was steadily decreasing.

Then the worst possible thing happened. Our main tank, Servillia, lost all of his sanity.

The guardians immediately turned and went after the rest of the raid, as did Serv. All we heard over our Ventrilo was the off tank, Thrakan, yelling "TURN AND BURN, TURN AND BURN!!" We all immediately turned around, faced Yogg, and unleashed everything we had. It didn't look good for us. With no one to control the Guardians, they ran around rampant, killing people, as we tried so hard to put out enough damage to bring him down, and it looked like we weren't gonna make it. I was furiously blasting with everything I had, waiting for when the guardians were going to come after me...

...and it happened. The guardians despawned as Yogg convulsed and fell over dead. We all earned our achievements, and began yelling with joy in Vent. I couldn't believe it, we'd finally done it. All the hard work, the repeated wiping, the frustrations, it had all paid off. It was done, and one of the coolest things I've ever seen in the game. So very cool. Just wanted to share that with ya'll.

Us celebrating in front of ol' Yoggy's dead self.

I've actually picked up another MMO to play when I need a break from WoW. It's called Champions Online. You've probably heard of City of Heroes, NCSoft's semi-well-known superhero MMORPG, this is along the same vein. I never played CoH, but from what what I'm told from those who did, Champions is better in nearly every way.

The game was initally being made by NCSoft, and grew out of a failed attempt to make an MMO on the Marvel Comics universe. However, they eventually sold it to Cryptic Entertainment, who finished the game and released it. You can buy it in stores or over the Steam download service.

The first thing that's worth mentioning about this game is the literally GINORMOUS character creation system. As someone who was used to the bare-bones character creator in World of Warcraft, this was nearly overwhelming. You have SO many options, so many costume pieces to choose from, that you could spend hours just playing with that. It does make sense though. In WoW, your clothing and armor change appearance as you get new equipment and put it on. In Champions, your appearance is what you make of it here. The items you get do not affect it in any way.

The first thing you choose is your powers "archetype". This is a collection of thematically linked together abilities and a base statisitics set. These range from Fire to Ice to Archery to Martial Arts to Power Armor to Sorcery to Telekinesis. There's a total of 18 archetypes to choose from, and what's truly killer is that you can actually pick around if you want to mix it up a little bit.

And that is perhaps the other truly amazing thing about this game, the sheer amount of customization you have. In WoW, if you're a hunter, for example, you're going to want the same set of stats on your items at all time.

In Champions, you gain the ability to, at levels 5 and 13, pick your "superstats". These two statistics will be what determines the strength of your powers, regardless of what archetype you select. Now, each archetype starts with a base set of statistics that gives you average values for all of them save two. These two are what they recommend you use as your super stats because they typically have other benefits for your archetyps, but they aren't required. You can thus mix and match whatever statistics you wish to focus on however you like. It's astounding.

And the customization does not stop there. You need not stick to powers from your archetype's pre-determined set, either!. As long as you have a minimum number of powers from one archetype, you can start learning powers from other types as well, and many of them synergize with certain other archetypes very well. For example, let's say you have a Power Armor hero, and he's gained a set number of Power Armor powers. If he gains a new power, he can switch over to the Eletricity Archetype and take the power Electric Form. Electric Form gives you a boost to Electricity and Particle damage, and aids in your energy gaining. The Power Armor archetype doesn't have many electric powers, but it has plenty of Particle damage in the form of it's many beam abilities!

The sheer degree of customizing, both in terms of character creation and ability gaining, means you will have yourself a truly unique character. Unless of course you fall into the truly sad realm of making characters that are blatant ripoffs of established superheros. I myself witnessed someone playing a Gambit copy known as "The Ragin' Cajun", and a Nightcrawler ripoff known as "Kurt Wagner" followed by a random series of letters. Those sorts of things are so very annoying.

I haven't gotten terribly far in Champions (Fireball, my pyrokinetic alter ego, is currently a mere level 15, while the hi-tech-armored bringer of justice known as Night Raven is catching up at level 14), but it looks to be loads of fun and a truly epic experience. If fantasty MMO's aren't your thing, I highly recommend you give the superheroic world a try. There's far more to the game than I could cover here in my basic review, and it's well worth your looking at.

I think that's all for now, my friends. Take care and I'll try to talk to you soon!

Firefighter

2009-09-26T09:42:00.004-05:00

Well, it's another weekend, which marks a break point in the continual 5-day drudge through the work week before I get to see my lady again. October 15th cannot get here soon enough.

Well I suppose it COULD get here too soon, if it was right now, and then I'd be wondering why I'm writing this and not getting dressed and on the road. But then again, that really wouldn't be too soon either, honestly.

At any rate, she is off on a retreat with her sorority sisters, so we're unable to communicate until she returns. Which given that my friends Alex and Tiffani are together this weekend when they're normally seperated by half the friggin' country, seems somewhat ironic. While I am fiercely jealous, I'm also very happy for them. They ARE my friends after all!

Last night I completed a spectacular goal in World of Warcraft. To those of you who play and are at least mildly familar with the Ulduar instance, let me just say that our 10-man finally completed Mimiron Hard Mode and earned the Firefighter achievement.

To those who do NOT play or don't know just how insane that fight truly is, let me run it down a bit.

This is Mimiron. Mimiron is one of the Keepers of Ulduar, essentially a powerful being created by the Titans to watch over Azeroth, and more specifically the Old God imprisioned in Ulduar, Yogg Saron.

Hey Yoggy.

Unfortunately, Yogg has opened up cracks in his prision, and his power and evil has corrupted the 4 keepers, essentially driving them insane. Essentially, Yogg Saron's power causes the Keepers to destroy anything in their path using their areas of influence. Mimiron, as a clockwork mechanical being, is an expert in the areas of building machines. When you enter his workshop, he assumes that you're there to test our his newest and best invention yet. Which he does by unleashing its firepower on you.

His first part of his invention is the Leviathan Mark II, essentially a big ol' tank with mines, a napalm shell launcher, a battering ram, and worse. Once you wipe our it's health, he moves the tank away and moves on to the next part.

The second part is the VX-001 Anti-Personnel Assault Cannon. It's a stationary mobile turret. Mimiron rotates around the room and unleashes blasts of energy at anyone in his line of fire. He also radiates massive amounts of heat from the turret, launches rockets at you, and occasionally charges his turrets up for the P3W x2 Laser Barrage. That will kill you if he hits you with it, as will the rockets, instantly.

After you destroy the turret, Mimiron summons the final part of his invention, the Aerial Command Unit. This thing looks like a big head with a pair of helicopter blades keeping it aloft. In this part of the fight, he shoots plasma blasts at you, drops Bomb Bots that walk over to your raid and explode, and also summons Assault bots as well.

Now, if you manage to defeat the Aerial Command Unit, Mimiron will happily exclaim that the preliminary testing is complete, and now it is time for the true test.

The Leviathan Mk II will roll out, the VX-001 will sprout hands where it's turrets used to be, and dock itself into the Leviathan. The Aerial Command unit will attach itself to the top of the VX-001.

The V-07-TR-0N is now formed. It has most of all of the abilities of the 3 parts, including the mines, the Laser Barrage, the rockets, and the Shock Blasts. All three of it's parts are independantly targettable. And you must bring all three pieces' health from 50% to 0% at the same time. If you don't, they repair themselves.

So yeah, does it sound crazy? It's pretty nuts, to be sure. If you wanna see it in action, watch this video that another guild made of the fight.

And that's not even his HARD mode.

His hard mode is activated by pushing that big red button you may have spotted during the video before the fight starts.

That button activates the Self-Destruct Mechanism. It also gives all of his "parts" 25% more health, 25% more damage, and causes the room to start breaking up...and catch fire.

The fire is what makes this encounter nightmarish. It's constantly spreading, is only randomly put out by some various extra abilities that Mimiron gains, and essentially means you have to be almost continually moving throughout the fight or you burn.

It's insanely hard. Here's a video of the hard mode for you to see for yourself.

Yeah, we beat it last night for the first time. I was so happy to get that done. Now I never want to do it again, haha.

Okay, I'm going to end this one for now, but I'll leave you with a pic of my newest little reward for completing an achievement that takes a year to complete, because it requires you to do all the achievements associated with all the holidays in the game.

RAWR!!

Ten

2009-09-15T06:38:00.002-05:00

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of my rebirth, so to speak. 10 years ago today, I made a decision that has changed my life. I accepted the gift Christ offered when he died on the cross.

This is the story of how it happened. It's written by my best friend, and the man who, at that point in my life, was almost entirely responsible for showing me what a life lived by following Jesus is really like, David Butler.

"As some of you know, today marks the 10 year anniversary of the Wedgwood Baptist shootings. For those that don't know, a man named Larry Ashbrook walked into a Saw You At The Pole rally on Wednesday night ten years ago at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth and began firing into the crowd. Seven people were killed and seven more were wounded. At the time I was a Junior in high school, and several of my friends had attended the rally, but I decided to stay at Southcliff for the evening instead.

Obviously it affected our youth group quite a bit. Wedgwood Baptist Church was only a couple miles from Southcliff, where I went to church, and since many of our students had been there, there was a closeness to the situation that was very unsettling. But what I'd come to remember most about that night ended up not being the shootings, but that it was the night one of my best friends of all time came to accept Jesus Christ into his heart.

Besides family, I've known and been constant friends with Brandon Matthews longer than anyone else I know. We've been through all the good times and all the bad times together, and I thank God to be a part of his life. It's really awesome to see how God can take a horrific tragedy and turn it into something that you are actually celebrating year after year. 10 years... how crazy is that! Through the last ten years I've seen true change happen in the heart of my friend Brandon.

When I first met him as a Sophomore in Leach's english class, he was a jaded and cynical kid, without any real direction that mattered. Nevertheless we seemed to hit it off right away in class, with our nerdy love of comics! After about a year or so (I think) I started inviting him to Wednesday nights with me at church, with a couple other friends. We'd meet at my place after school and all go to eat and bible study together. That night, after we received word about the shootings, and my parents had come to pick us up, Brandon was shook up a lot I think. My dad took him aside and they talked for a good bit while the rest of us waited in the car, praying. Basically that night my dad was able to lead Brandon to the Lord, which in my opinion, pretty much destroyed any victory Satan could have claimed that night.

Since then, Brandon has become one of the most caring, understanding, and devoted friends I have ever known. I've never seen such a change in someone like that. I think Brandon would say the same thing. Through the years we've grown closer, then farther apart, due to the miles between us, but we STILL get together, most recently for the worship projects we've been recording in New Mexico, and of course he was a groomsman in my wedding (and yes, I've even dragged him to a reenactment)! Add that to 3 years of high school together, 30 shows and 2 albums with Monkeywrench, and over 10 years of friendship... it seems like a lifetime! And in many ways, it has been...

Shortly after the Wedgwood shootings, I wrote a song about the whole thing. Looking back on it, the lyrics might be a little cheezy, and my vocals certainly never did it justice, but the message is there. It was one of the first songs that my old band Monkeywrench (who Brandon was also in) ever wrote. I thought it would be appropriate to include it in this 10 year anniversary note. It is appropriately titled "9-15-99."

9-15-99

Where do you turn when your world is in shambles...
Where do you turn when there's no place to hide?
When the place that you worship is destroyed and undone...
When your faith is shattered across the sky?

Where do you turn when your life is in shambles...
Where do you turn when your hate cannot hide
When the one that you worship leaves you empty inside...
When you're so confused you take your life?

Turn to Him, he will take all your sorrows
He will make them better than before they'd begun
He will wrap His arms of comforting love around your heart from heaven above.

So that's where you turn when your world is in shambles.
That's where you turn, though there's no need to hide
And the place that you worship will be restored in your heart
And your faith will be mended before your eyes.

So turn to him, he'll take your sorrows
He will make them better than before they'd begun
He will wrap His arms of comforting love around your heart from heaven above."

Awake and Alive and Listening to something better.

2009-09-01T23:16:00.001-05:00

I love the band Skillet. I had mixed feelings about the first two albums of theirs that I owned (which would be Invincible and Alien Youth), so it took me a while to buy Collide. Finally, after my friend David threated me with physical harm, I bought it. And, well, if you've listened to the album, you know how A) incredible it is and B) what a massive departure it was from the previous stuff we've seen from Skillet.

Collide was raw, passionate, and hard. It also included one of the most truly epic songs I've ever heard in the form of the titular track. This album threw Skillet into the list of my favorite musical artists. Their next album, Comatose, sealed it there forever. Comatose took everything that was great about the song Collide and made nearly an entire album's worth of greatness from it, blending the hard, nearly-metal rock sound with the symphonic intros and backing, resulting in classics like Rebirthing, Comatose, and Whispers in the Dark. There are plenty of great solid rock tracks on here as well, including Better Than Drugs, Last Night, Falling Into Black, and Those Nights.

However, Comatose does have a downside to it. The album incorporates a couple of songs that can best be described (and in fact WERE described as such by John Cooper, Skillet's Frontman, on Comatose Comes Alive) as 80s power ballads, namely Yours to Hold, The Older I Get, and Say Goodbye. These songs are absolutely lame. I'm sorry, they are. They're boring compared to what this band is capable of and what they demonstrate on the rest of this album.

The problem is that, on their live abum, Comatose Comes Alive, John mentioned that he LOVES 1980s power ballads just before playing Yours to Hold. I wish I could say that set off some warning bells in my mind, but it didn't.

So now we come to the recently released Awake. After Comatose, I think we all had incredibly high hopes for this album. Was it too much? I don't think so, not really. The first single we heard off this album, "Hero", certainly sounded like the Skillet we all know and love! There's less symphonic backing, but lots of rock, and a passionate calling out to Jesus to help us make a stand in thie world. Plus it features vocals from their new drummer, and she ain't bad, singing or drumming.

The second single, "Monster"....well lets just say this should have been the second warning sign. It's not an overall bad track on it's own. The first thought I had as I was listening to it was "Wow...these lyrics are really not as good as Skillet has done." But I continued listening...and then we got to the bridge.

If you've heard this track, and not the radio version, you know what comes next. You get a dropoff of all instruments, and you're expecting to hear John sing (or even scream) the words "feel like a monster". Well, you get those words all right, but they're uttered by this synthesized monster voice. I don't know if they were going for creepy, or just scary, or what, but it is the cheesiest thing I think I've ever heard. I was in such shock and disgust at the sheer lameness of it, I had to stop the song. Seriously? You guys were gonna go with that??

I've listened to the song a few more times since then, and that stupid monster voice aside, it's not a bad track at all, if you consider it on it's own, apart from anything Skillet has done before. If you factor that in, then yes, it's a bit disappointing. Monster's a pretty rocking track, but Skillet has done way better.

So then we get the full deal. Awake debuts in stores, and I immediately grab that sucker off iTunes and get ready to rock.

Oh wow, is this album disappointing. Really really disappointing. Why? Because it's about 50% lame 80s power ballads, and what few songs aren't, well half of them are just plain terrible.

I'm not even going to talk about the power ballad tracks. I can't. I can barely stand to listen to them through once. So let's take a look at the rest of the offerings here. The title track, Awake and Alive, is not bad, really. It tries to capture the formula they used on Comatose: Blend good hard rock with their signature symphonic backing. For the most part it works, until you get to the chorus, specifically the lyrics "Now, it's my time. I'll do what I want, cause this is my life!". I'm sorry, I thought I was listening to Skillet, not "Angry teen emo-rock band #357". What happened, guys? You're too smart to fall into the whole "cater-songs-to-the-teenage-youth-group-crowd" that gripped otherwise good bands. I'm looking at you, Superchic[k]. The song kind of just falls apart from there, getting less and less mature, which culiminates in having to hear John sing "Wa-king-up, Waking up!" over and over prior to the bridge and at the song's close. I felt like I'd been bait-and-switched.

Next we get "One Day Too Late" which has...oh right. Power Ballad. *pushes skip button*. Sorry, now we come to "It's Not Me It's You". And yet again, we have to check our CD to make sure we haven't been hoodwinked. This is not a Skillet song. This is a terrible piece of crap that some girl-power chick band threw together after they broke up with their boyfriend. I'm really disgusted at this point, and begging the rest of the album to impove.

Sadly, our next track, Should've When You Could've? Yeah, ballad. Also, really annoying title. And the one after that? It's called "Believe", it's gotta be good, right? Hey look another one! Ugh. "Believe" sounds like something a jerk guy would sing if he was trying to blame a girl for all his relationship issues. I'm not kidding, go listen to it if you don't believe me (pardon the pun). I have no idea what has happened to this band by now. I'm looking for something, ANYTHING, to salvage this mess.

"Forgiven" tries to do that. It really does. Again, they try to capture the sound that made Comatose so good, and the song itself FINALLY comes back to something that actually sounds Spiritual, a heartfelt confession of wrong and God's Forgiveness of it all. The problem is, there's enough of the power ballad influence in here that it just makes the song average at best. It's decent, but it's hardly a standout hit.

Now we come to "Sometimes". Okay, I think we're getting somewhere here. This one gets it closer to the seriously hard rock we've heard on Collide. This is good stuff. Lyrics are a bit on the immature side, but at thsi point, i'm so sick of the power ballads I'm almost willing to overlook that. Do we have another classic hit here? I can't bring it up that high. It's good, but not great.

"Never Surrender" is like that last grasp at safety before falling off a cliff. It's trying to stick to the good things that started being developed in the previous tracks, you can tell that in the opener and even during the chorus, but the rest of it? Yeah, back into the pit of powerballad. Sigh.

Finally there's "Lucy". A downer tear-jerker about a girl that's died. Hey Skillet? No. Stop it. Just stop this. Please. No one likes you guys because of these kinds of songs. They love you for your epic, powerful, raw, uninhibitted anthems of the greatness of God and his love. That's why Collide and Comatose did so well. That's why Comatose Comes Alive is so great, because for the most part you stuck to those. With the exception of "Hero", you don't have anything close to that greatness on this CD. What happened here, guys??

If you picked up the Deluxe Edition (and I'll go on another rant about why I hate these later), you got three bonus tracks. "Dead Inside" is, hilariously, better than almost all of the album. It sounds more like it was a song that couldn't quite make it on to Comatose, honestly. It's got a good solid rock feel, good lyrics, overall highly enjoyable. "Would it Matter" is a synth-backed power ballad. Lame.

Finally, we're treated to "Monster (Alternate Radio Version)". If you're familiar with the practice of "Radio Versions" of songs, you know they're usually highly lame, softened up versions of normally good songs, done to maximize their appeal on the radio to all those folks who love happy-slappy contemporary Christian stuff that utterly bores me. Monster's "Radio Version" does not do that. All it changes is, yes you guessed it, the terrible monster voice during the bridge. Instead, we get the same dropoff, but the normal vocals continue to sing. It's amazing how much more enjoyable the song is.

So, I have to ask, guys. Did you think "Oooh, that Monster voice is a little too extreme for the radio, we better just replace it with regular vocals"? Because, I hate to tell you this, but the Radio version is better. Like I said, that monster voice is cheesy and bad. This version would have been a far better choice.

Overall, Skillet it seems has finally taken a misstep. They've taken the power ballads way too far and regressed badly on lyrical maturity. There's a few good songs worth listening to on this album, but the rest of it can just be marked as "Skillet's experimental power ballad album" and never spoken of again.

I give it 2 out of 5 Stars, 3 if you bought the Deluxe version.

Going to Waco again this weekend. If you see me seperated from Karen for an extended length of time, something has gone horribly awry. See ya'll then!!

Cataclysmic.

2009-08-25T17:48:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's been a good solid few days since Blizzcon ended, so let's digest some info.

First of all, the third expansion for World of warcraft was announced, and it's called Cataclysm. Pretty much what everyone was expecting. The "final boss" of this one will be everyone's favorite evil dragon covered in Adamantite plate, Deathwing, and is going to completely reshape the world as we know it. Literally. Hence the name.

The story of this chapter of Azeroth centers around a massive disaster of such epic proportions that it reshapes the world. Deathwing, it seems, has been hiding in another plane of existence, the elemental plane of earth, also known as Deepholme. He's been there recovering from the last two major defeats he's suffered (all of which occured before WoW's story began) and it seems he's recovered enough to make his presence known again. Which he does by tearing a hole in existence between Deepholme and Azeroth. Now I don't know how much you all know about planar physics, but tearing a hole between two different planes of existence is NOT a good thing. The act breaks open massive cracks in the planet, exposing molten lava fissures across the face of Azeroth, reshapes the two major continents, causes the oceans of the world to flood areas previously locked by land, and does very bad things to many of the civilizations spread across the world.

Kaboom.

What does this mean for us, the Players? It means the "old world" (the two continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, the only 2 that used to exist in the original version of WoW) are being completely revamped. In the wake of this event, known as the Cataclysm, whole zones have been reshaped or broken in half. Multiple areas that were previously unreachable now are. Other areas are vastly reshaped. Desolace, for example, is now a lush grassland. The Barrens not only has a massive molten fissue running across it, it's partially covered by a tropical rainforest. The Wetlands has been split in half, with the new half known as the Twilight highlands, occupied by Deathwing, his new Twilight dragons, and the Twilight's Hammer cult cowed into serving him.

In essence, the leveling experience from 1-60 is being redesigned completely. New quests, new areas, the whole shebang.

To go along with this, we get two new races: The Goblins and the Worgen.

The Goblins as we've known them in WoW have all been neutral, part of an organization called the Steamwheedle Cartel. These new goblins are from another organization apparently that was sold out into slavery by competitors. The Cataclysm set them free, but it also stranded them during their escape. In need of protection and a new place in the world to make their own, they've joined the Horde.

The Worgen are members of the former human nation of Gilneas, which isolated itself from the world during the Third War, in fear of the Scourge. Archmage Arugal, a Gilnean himself, summoned the creatures known as the worgen from another plane to help defend their borders. Unfortunately the Werewolf creatures broke free of Arugal and began spreading the werewolf curse among the kingdom. Though the Gilnean people have regained control of their minds, the Cataclysm destroyed the great wall that isolated them. With the Forsaken bearing down on them, they've turned to old friends in the Alliance to help them rejoin the world.

Personally, I'll admit, the idea of playing a werewolf is EXTREMELY awesome. And I've seen the video of their transformation effect. I can only describe it as awesome. But they're Alliance, and most of my friends are playing Horde these days.

The Goblins don't seem too bad either. From what I've heard from folks who attended Blizzcon, the Goblin starter area is FUN. Lots of explosions. Who doesn't love that?

Both races are getting a super wide variety of playable classes too. The Worgen can be every class except Paladin and Shaman, and the Goblins get everything except Paladin and Druid. Oddly enough, that includes Death Knights for both. This would seem odd, given that the starting Death Knight chain story would preclude the involvement or even knowledge of either race, but at the same time, a Goblin or Worgen Death knight sounds really cool, so I can't fault Blizzard for including it. Maybe they'll deal with the discrepancy somehow, but I'm not going to care much if they don't.

There's also going to be some substantial expansion in class choices for the existing races as well. Humans and Forsaken both gain access to Hunters. Dwarves are gaining Shamans and Mages; the Night Elves and Orcs gained the latter as well. Gnomes are gaining Priests, as are the Tauren. Tauren also are getting Paladins. Trolls will soon be able to be Druids. Finally, the Blood Elves will gain the Warrior race.

Some of these additions are fairly natural extensions, such as the Human Hunter or Blood Elf Warrior. Some of them can be fairly easily explained by cross-racial teachings (such as the Tauren druids teaching trolls or Draenei shamans teaching dwarves). Some of them are just downright mysterious and will require some fairly good storytelling to explain, and in a few cases we see examples of this in game now. Regardless, we've got plenty more choices for characters now, and plenty of new opportunities for level 1 alts to explore the newly revamped world.

And it really is getting revamped. One of the most often asked questions after flying mounts were introduced in Burning Crusade is "Why can't we fly in the old world". The answer is that the Old World may look three dimensional, but it's not. Many of the distinctive landmarks you may see in game are not really there at all, they're optical illusions of sorts, and if you flew over them, it would be terribly obvious. In Cataclysm, Blizzard is rebuilding the world to be truly three-dimensional, and thus we will be able to fly across all of Azeroth on our menagerie of flying mounts.

I'm really excited about this one, because these two continents are BIG. I'd love the change to go explore them from a high up perspective now, and even though the world is gonna be wildly different, I'm still gonna love checking it out from the air!

The level cap is only going up by 5, making 85 the new max level. Blizzard stated that they wanted to give us fewer levels to get through, but that they wanted the experience to be more enjoyable and more epic. We're not getting any new "tiers" of talents, so we'll have more points to spend on what we already have, but talents ARE going to get a pretty substantial redesign. They want to take away "boring" talents like "increases dmg" or "Increases x stat" and make them more enjoyable to choose from. To go along with this, statistics are getting an extreme revamp as well. Many of the more complicated statistics, like Spellpower, Attack Power, defense rating, armor penetration, and the like? Going away completely. Some of these will be provided based on base statistics (strength, Agility, intellect, etc), and some of it will be provided via talent selection. There's also a new stat called "Mastery". As best I understand it, Mastery will do different things for you based on your chosen talent spec. For example (and this is purely hypothetical description on my part), a warrior might have X points of Mastery. If he's Prot, his X Mastery will give him Y amounts of Armor. If he was Arms or Fury, that same X Mastery would give him Z attack power or Critical strike rating. It's a very nifty and fluid system, and it lets players use their existing gear for multiple roles, cutting down on the number of armor sets needed for various specs. How exactly it will play out, well I suppose we'll find out more as Cataclysm draws nearer, but I really like the concept myself.

Obviously with all these new zones, we're getting new dungeons and raids. I won't go into a whole lot of detail there, but I will say this, because these got me excited. Shadowfang Keep and Deadmines are getting heroic modes and Ragnaros is coming back. He's at Mount Hyjal trying to burn down the World Tree. Oh and we're told he's about three times as huge as he used to be. Opposing him? Malfurion friggin' Stormrage. That's right. The baddest of the druids has returned and he is (we're told) going to help us kick some giant fire elemental butt. Excellent!

There's a new secondary profession called Archaeology, and a new "progression system" called Path of the Titans. We don't know a whole lot about this yet, but from what the designers talked about, it's a system that allows you to continue to experience the fun of leveling, but takes away the "grind" feel of it, and gives you some pretty cool rewards to go with it. Again, not sure what that's going to mean exactly.

So yeah, that's an awful lot to digest. And there was lots more. Heck, I didn't even talk about all the stuff they discussed for the final path of Wrath, Patch 3.3. But all in all, I'm stoked about this. It's way too soon to tell for any of us how we plan on experiencing this upcoming expansion, but the future of WoW looks really good (from an enjoyability standpoint, the future of Azeroth looks pretty painful, heheh).

I can't wait for some nitty gritty details to come out so we can really see just how different things are gonna be, but its all pretty exciting.

But for now, all we can do is wait. And see how many of our friends we can get to come along for the ride (*wink* at a certain someone).

Yes!! Paid Race Changes!!!

2009-08-22T15:48:00.002-05:00

Blizzcon, as anyone who plays World of Warcraft is aware, is going on right now. And there's way too much information for me to process right now. I might go back later after it's all said and done and try to process out my own individual thoughts on everything, but one quick mention during one of the open Q&A sessions REALLY caught my ears.

Since the paid faction changes are coming, they're also going to allow paid race changes as well.

I've been asking for that since I heard about the faction changes, and it makes me very happy. I get to institute a series of changes to my characters I'd been thinking about for a LONG time.

So here's my current set of characters I actively play:

Dahkar - Troll Mage
Oldmanfranks - Undead Death Knight
Grothi - Tauren Druid
Durnit - Troll Shaman
Nihl - Blood Elf Warlock.

They're a fun bunch, mostly. And I've enjoyed different things about them at different points during the times I've played this game. But if I had to go back and do it again, having the experiences I have now? I'd probably change some stuff up. And now...now I can!! Well, not now. But at least I know it'll be soon.

But: One question remains....will we get this at the same time we get the new race/class combos? I'm hopeful we get them at the same time, and that it's BEFORE the new expansion. But I suppose we'll see.

Okay, gonna run down the changes.

Dahkar - stays the same. Heh.

Oldmanfranks - My Death Knight will become a troll, and he's going to lose the OMF name and gain the name "Durnnit"

Durnnit - The shaman will become a Tauren and gain the name "Grothi"

Nihl - My warlock will become undead, with the name of, yeah you guess it, Oldmanfranks.

Grothi - Grothi will gain a new name, which I haven't thought of yet. If I'm allowed to do so at this point, he'll become a troll as well. If not, he'll stay a tauren until I can.

So why the changes you ask? Well, I'll tell ya.

Dahkar stays the same because he's the first character I ever made, and I like him the way he is.

The Death Knight will become a troll because, frankly, I don't much like the way undeads look in Plate armor. The exposed joints and everything....just seems wrong. So I'm turning him into a troll, which look awesome and are my favorite race anyway. I'm giving him Durnnit's name, because in the story I created for them (yes I did that, I'm a nerd, get over it), Dahkar and Durnnit are brothers who pursue different paths to better their people (the study of arcane mage and the path of shamanism, respectively). I can amend Durnnits story to include a heroic death and rebirth at the Lich King's hands to become a Death Knight, and the struggle to regan his humanity...er....trollity.

The Druid is going to become a troll....well, because I like trolls! Plus....one of the things I like about Taurens is their spell casting animation. Because of how the druid works, you don't get to see that often. If I make the shaman a tauren, I will. Plus I can give him Grothi's name and amend his backstory to make him choose the path of the shaman instead of the druid, which will also give him more connections with Durnnit's past life. As for the new Troll Druid....well I don't know just yet how his past is going to play out, part of that is going to come from whatever lore Blizzard puts in for how the trolls learned Druidism. Still, I'm thinking it'll be cool.

So that leaves the warlock, who is currently a Blood Elf. Fine, I'll admit it. I don't like Blood Elves. Why? Because, like Oxhorn once put it, they're so bloiting trendy. If you look at AIE's numbers, we're half blood elves. Everybody and their mother makes Blood Elves, and ONLY Blood Elves. It's like...come on people, try a different race already!! So yeah, even though I REALLY don't play him terribly much, that could always change, and so I'm going to make him undead, and he's going to become Oldmanfranks. OMF's backstory should be pretty easy to amend, just take it up to the point where he becomes a banker, but instead just shove in Nihl's story where he meets the legendary Grand Warlock, Evrae, and go from there.

All things said, I'm stoked this change is happening and can't wait to get to do it.

More Blizzcon thoughts later.

The Karen FAQ!!

2009-08-18T17:23:00.004-05:00

So, as many of you may know by now, I'm dating someone.

Not just ANY someone, mind you. A particular someone. A very lovely, kind, caring someone. I'm still trying to figure out how God I decided I was deserving of her, personally.

At any rate, her name is Karen Wilson, and those of you reading this are probably in 1 of 2 camps: You know who she is and are thinking to yourself "It's about darn time, Bmatt" or you've got no idea who she is and wonder where she came from.

This post is for the latter of you guys. I call it "The Karen FAQ". I'll answer the most common questions I've gotten thus far about my now-girlfriend to the best of my ability!

1. What is this? How come I knew nothing about her?

Very few people knew that I had feelings for Karen or that I was planning on asking her out. The only people I've talked to in detail about it before it happened are the guy who discipled me throughout most of college and his wife (who incidentally named me their son's godfather). A couple of close friends knew about it, but I didn't talk a whole lot about it, obviously.

2. How'd you meet her?

College! We both attended Baylor University (though in different years) and we also both attended the same church. I actually forget how we initially met, but we became friends very quickly. During my 4th year, me, my roommate and several other guys would bring a few TVs and Xboxes to someone's house and have a big ol' Halo party on Friday nights. Karen was the only girl who attended on a regular basis. She's hardcore, yo!

She actually moved away a couple of years ago to attend another school north of Lubbock, for a variety of reasons, and we lost touch until recently, when she found me on Twitter. We reconnected and recently met up in Arlington while she and her mom were visiting friends. We had dinner, saw Star Trek (my 4th time, heheh), and in general just caught up. It was the most fun I'd had in a long time, and that's when I started to really fall for her.

So this past weekend, we arranged a weekend in Lubbock to hang out. I had promised her I'd wait to see Harry Potter 6 with her, plus there was a really cool Science museum there she said she wanted to show me. So we got together, had a great time (disappointing Harry Potter film aside), and on Saturday night, we got to talking, and well, I asked her to be my girlfriend. She (happily I hope!) said yes, and here we are.

3. So wait, she's in Lubbock? How's that gonna work?

She's technically north of there, in Plainview, right now. Her family lives in Lubbock, but she's got one more semester of college in Plainview to finish. After that, well, I suppose we shall see what happens from there. In the meantime, we've got cellphones, Twitter, and other forms of communication available to us, and we're already planning our next weekend together. We're both stubborn and we like each other, a lot. I'm very certain we can make this work!

4. So what do you like about her?

What's NOT to like? She's sweet, kind, caring, patient (at least with me, hah), very beautiful, adventurous, geeky (yes Karen you are!), genuine, I could go on. This is a woman who very obviously loves Jesus and genuinely does her best to walk with Him, and it shows. Any guy would be extremely lucky to call her his girlfriend!

5. Does she play World of Warcraft?

Yes, this does get asked a lot, primarily because a large subset of those whom this FAQ is directed at are friends from my WoW guild! of Earthen Ring, REPRESENT!

The answer is no, she does not play WoW. At least, not yet. :-D. I've asked her if she'd be interested, and she didn't immediately say no, so I suppose there's a chance! EDIT: She said she's willing to give it a shot once she gets her compy back! W00t!

6. So what's her twitter name?

I don't think I'd better reveal that one without her permission. A sudden swarm of new followers might be a wee bit scary! I'll let you all know if she's okay with it. EDIT: I asked her and she said it's okay. It's twitter.com/tanzenmitgott.

7. Man, she sounds great, and going by the pictures you posted, she's really cute too. So what's a girl like that see in a big doofus like you?

I have no idea, and I'm not going to question it! :-D

2009-07-08T22:19:00.001-05:00

26 years Old

Revenge of the SEQUAL

2009-06-27T22:29:00.003-05:00

So I just got back from seeing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Overall, I'd say I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a pretty standard Michael Bay action film, but it's got giant transforming robots. So you can imagine I happen to enjoy that sort of thing.

I kinda dug on the whole plot, if for no other reason than it's adapted from IDW Publishing's Transformers: War Within: The Dark Ages trade paperback. It's always pretty cool when they take a concept from a comic and adapt it to the film, especially when it's a fairly minor one.

Yeah, there's a lot of Shia Lebouf and Megan Fox in the flick, and neither of them are two of my favorite actors in the world. Lebouf annoyed the HELL out of me in the first Transformers film, and while yes, it's true, Megan Fox is a very attractive woman, her behavior off camera (insulting her fans and posing nude) makes her extremely UNattractive.

That being said, both of them managed to, for the most part, make me give a crap about the characters. Lebouf was nowhere near as annoying as he was in the first film, and Fox actually did a pretty standard female-love-interest role decently. You get the usual tropes of "young lovers seperated by distance but trying to make it work, girl catches guy apparently cheating but its not what it looks like, both are scared to say they love each other, but a crisis brings them closer together" in this film, but somehow they both manage to pull it together to where you believe it.

But of course, the real reason to see any Transformers film is the Transformers themselves. And we not only revisit all your old favorites, we get new ones to boot. LOTS of new ones. So many that it's impossible to tell in a lot of cases just who is who.

One of the things I enjoyed about the first film was that every robot was clearly named, and in many cases had moments which showed you their capabilities and distinct personalities. Every Autobot and Decepticon got clear screentime, lines, action shots, and overall a lot of development. You could pretty clearly tell who was who.

The same cannot be said here in this film. Several new Autobots are introduced in this movie, including the Twins (Mudflap and Skids), Arcee (a female Autobot that controls three bodies which transform into motorcyles), Sideswipe, Jolt, and Jetfire. The Twins get the most screentime out of all of them, as they serve as the comic relief of the film, a role formerly occupied by Bumblebee and his "using the radio to speak" shtick. Arcee, Jolt, and Sideswipe pretty much spend the movie as background characters, with each getting one distinctive thing about them shown (Arcee being a triplicate bot, Jolt using electricity, and Sideswipe getting to slice some unknown Decepticon in half and say "Damn I'm good").

The Decepticons on the other hand....there were a ton of them shown that never got named, never had any distinctive shape or ability shown for them, and never had any real personality as characters. Megatron, Starscream, and the Fallen are about all you get, as they are the central villain characters that the plot moves around. Aside from them, you have a veritable TON of Decepticons show up: very few of them are mentioned have names. You see Soundwave as a satellite coordinating Decepticon activity, and of course he launches one of his more famous companions in the form of Ravage. The Constructicons also show up, but only recognizably when they combine into their bigger robot form of Devastator (and even then only because he is referred to as such in dialogue). What makes it so confusing is that the individual robots making up Devastator are seemingly re-used later on in the film, making them essentially in two places at once, and in some cases, three. One of the Decepticons who died in the first film (Blackout) even makes a reappearance in a battle against Optimus Prime with no explanation as to how he was still alive. Needless to say it becomes nigh impossible to tell who is who, and that bugged the hell out of me.

I understand that none of the new robots are really central enough characters to the overall plot that the film was going after to really warrant a whole lot of screen time, but I would have appreciated some more indivual attention to them, and the fact that individual Decepticons were apparently in multiple places at once points to extreme laziness in the part of the writers.

Sidenote, a quick check on Wikipedia shows that these "multiple places at the same time" Decepticons are explained by the fact that these are somehow "different characters with the same robot forms". Yeah, that's extremely lazy all right.

Overall, don't expect anything deep or overly meaningful here: This is a Bay action movie. Enjoy it for what it is. Because overall, despite my nitpicking about robot re-usage and the lack of development for the newer characters, it was still a very enjoyable film. There's lots of good things to enjoy here. I recommend you go see it.

Aight, that's it for now folks. Catchya later

A little moving around

2009-06-22T22:31:00.002-05:00

Hey, don't know how many of you guys still read the actual blog here, given that most of this cross-posts to Facebook, but if you do, you might notice a few things

First up, my rotating picture script over there has finally been updated. I added some more recent images, but left a few classic ones as well.

Second, the side bars over there have been cleaned up a bit. I got rid of the Last.fm app, since it hasn't been working for ages, and it'd mostly just list the various podcasts I typically listen to at work anyway.

I also added a blogroll widget. It lists the most recent posts of a few of the blogs I read. Right now it only has a few blogs listed there, but I'll continue to add them as I find new and interesting ones to read that I want to share. I hope you enjoy them.

I've also removed some other link compilations, removed most of the web 2.0 sites that I'm not actively on anymore (myspace, xanga, and delicious mostly) and reorganized my webcomic links. Thinking about experimenting some more with the comics, maybe making them similar to the blogroll listing but with thumbnails, but I'll have to play around with that and see if I like it enough.

The next thing I want to do is play around with the colors and maybe find a new design I like more than this one, but I've got no eye for that sort of thing, so if anyone wants to help out, please, let me know.

Aight, thats it. More later on!

What's going on in Iran?

2009-06-16T17:59:00.004-05:00

What's going on in Iran? Well, all evidence points to the fact that the recent elections for Iran's "Supreme Leader" were rigged by the corrupt dictatorial incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

There are massive rallies and protests going on against the electoral fraud and in support of the opposition candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

I just want to say that the internet, especially Facebook and Twitter, have been instrumental in people getting the word out to what's really happening in that nation. The goverment of Iran has shut down all internet connections to most blogs and social media sites, including those two. In response, people outside the country are setting up proxies for them to safely access these critically important sites. The goverment is also attempting to track anyone using social media to report anything critical of Ahmadinejad's goverment. Mobile Phone service has been completely shut down as well.

People are disappearing. People are getting arrested for daring to oppose this injustice. We should help them however they can.

Background:
Here's the ongoing article on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Iranian_election_protests

Article on the twitter help from CNET
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10265462-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

How you can help: READ THESE
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/16/cyberwar-guide-for-i.html
http://emsenn.com/iran.php

How to keep updated with what's going on.
You can use the internet to search for news stories from whatever sites you prefer, of course. MSNBC, CNN, FOX, practically anyone is reporting on this.

But if you want to be absolutely up to the minute date, you can use Twitter to keep track of things.
You can go to search.twitter.com and search for the specific hashtags #iranelection #gr88
However, this may be a little overwhelming.

My friend and guildmate, Loreleisigma, is doing an excellent job of spreading relevant news and help links via her twitter page. Keep an eye on http://twitter.com/loreleisigma and you will probably catch loads of information as it happens and as she can spread it.

My friend (and most of yours as well!) John Fram has also been tweeting links and news related to this. Keep an eye on http://twitter.com/cobaltfram as well

Most of all, please pray. Human beings who only want the freedom that they deserve are in real danger here.

Thanks

WWDC Ruminatings

2009-06-08T19:31:00.000-05:00

"Hi B-Matt! Wow it's been a long time since you blogged!"
Yeah, I know. My own personal life really isn't interesting enough to write about, and I haven't decided how to more focus this blog on specific subjects. But I think I have something good to write about today.

"Oh Cool! What is it?"
Apple's announcements at the Worldwide Developers Conference, specifically concerning the new iPhone stuff.

"Okay, so what's the deal there? What's new?"
Lots of stuff actually, but it can be divided into two major groups. New stuff in the software update and new stuff in an actual new model of the iPhone.

"What's the difference?"
People who have one of the current 3G phones will get all the features included on the Software Update (also called Version 3.0) on June 17th. People who get the new iPhone model will get all that, plus some new hardware features only in the Phone.

"Okay, so what's in the Version 3.0 software update?"
Lots of things, most of it kinda minor. The big things most folks care about are support for Multi-media Messaging, the additions of the ability to Cut, Copy, and Paste, support for tethering, and the addition of more of the GPS functionality to the API for developers.

"The GPS to the What now?"
Basically it means that App Store developers can use the GPS function to make their own GPS apps. In other words, companies like TomTom and Garmin can develop GPS apps similar to their devices, with turn by turn directions and the like.

"And what was that 'tethering' thing you mentioned earlier?"
Tethering is the idea of using a phone with web-browsing capability as a modem for a laptop. In other words, you hook it up to your PC, and it uses the ability of the phone to browse the web over 3G to transmit data right to the PC. So instead of looking around for a Wifi hotspot, you can use your phone to browse the web anywhere you can get a 3G connection (which is more widespread)

"Awesome! So we can do this when the software comes out on the 17th you said?"
Slow down there, tiger. There's a problem.

"What's the problem?"
Three letters. Or more accurately, 2 letters, one of which is repeated. A. T. T.

"Whats wrong with AT&T?"
Generally? They're jerks. More specifically to this case, they've announced their networks won't be able to support tethering -OR- Multimedia Messaging until "Later this summer". And they won't tell us when. Not to mention the fact that it's heavily rumored that they're going to charge you MORE to tether the iPhone.

"What? But you already pay them all that money every month for the Unlimited Data plan! How can they justify charging you more??"
Like I said, they're jerks. Actually, they're far worse than that, but I don't want to document such obscenity here. I should point out that around the world, other carriers will be ready to support this on Day 1. And many of them have been supporting it for years on other phones. If you really look into it, you'll discover that the U.S. is so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to cell phone networks that it'll make you mad. Japan, South Korea, most of Europe, and even Canada has access to WAY more features of their phones than we in the US do, because cell carriers lock down so many features and are so pathetically slow to expand infrastructure. It's disgusting.

"Sigh"
My sentiments exactly.

"So, whats the deal with the new iPhone?"
Okay, so the new phone model is called the "iPhone 3GS". The S, we are told, stands for SPEED! Bascially, it's got a faster processor and has some additional hardware features. There's a better camera in there (3.0 Megapixel), a digital compass for better navigation, and some hardware which supports Voice dialing and other voice-recognition features. It's also supposedly got better battery life.

"Sounds good. How much is it?"
Well Apple is keeping the 8gig model of the iPhone 3G at $99 as an intro model. The new iPhone 3GS is $199 for 16gig, and $299 for 32gig, with a new 2-year contract with AT&T of course.

"That's not too bad at all. So are you gonna get one? You've been complaining about the battery life in your phone, and you could use more storage. So you're getting one, right?"
*amused laughter*

"What's so funny?"
Well, there's another problem.

"What's the problem?"
What do you think?

"AT&T again?"
Of course. Those prices I mentioned earlier? Those are the subsidized prices. AT&T only gives you that pricing with a "NEW" 2-year contract. If you try to upgrade in the middle of your contract, they make you pay the unsubsidized price. Which is basically $200 more for each of the models.

"But you've been a loyal AT&T customer for years! Surely they'll let you just renew your contract for another 2 years and get the subsidized price, right?"
You would think they'd treat loyal customers like that, but they don't. They're jerks, remember? They're not allowing that at all. You want one now, you pay the unsubsidized pricing, and your loyalty be damned.

"So you have to wait for your contract to get close to expiring before you can renew and get the subsidized price? When is that?"
That's correct, and mine is up in April of 2010.

"Wait, can you cancel your contract and just get a new one?"
Good idea, but there's 2 problems with that one. A) You incur the early termination fee of $175. B) you lose your phone number by doing that.

"So basically, in order to get the 32gig model, the one you really want, you've have to pay $500, all because AT&T, whom you've been a loyal customer of and never been late with your bill, doesn't want to give you any good faith to renew your contract right now so you can get the pricing you can afford."
That about sums it up nicely.

"Wow. Those guys are assholes."
You watch your language!

"But I'm you. You're doing this whole interview bit with yourself"
You're not supposed to let the audience know that. You're supposed to represent their point of view, ask the questions they're asking!!

"Sorry!"
Look, just ask the last quesiton, all right?

"So what're you going to do, then, if you can't get the iPhone without being ripped off?"
What'm I gonna do? I'm going to sit back and enjoy the 3.0 software update. And then I'm going to wait for AT&T to actually start supporting MMS and tethering. And pray to God I'm wrong about them charging more for it. And I'll probably skip getting the 3GS, and hope the next iPhone model that comes out is closer to when my contract expires, so I can upgrade without the stupid extra cost

Need tech advice and a check in on my predictions

2009-04-12T14:12:00.004-05:00

Man, I'm doing really well with my promise to better update this thing, aren't I?

So I'm in need of some advice. My desktop computer is randomly restarting. I don't really know what's causing it, so I turn to the wisdom of the masses for ideas of what I need to do in order to fix it.

Here are the facts.

1. It seems to reboot whenever it's been idle for a pro-longed period of time, and I try to start up a program, usually iTunes or Firefox

2. It's also rebooted on me when I've tried starting up a few programs at the same time, typically World of Warcraft and something else like Firefox or iTunes.

3. Sometimes it just re-starts, other times I get a Blue Screen of Death with the error "MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION"

4. My antivirus is fully up to date and scans nightly. Spyware is scanned about once a week, and rarely returns anything to delete.

If you need any additional info, let me know I'll try to answer as best I can. If you've got any ideas as to what it sounds like is broken, let me know. I've been leaning towards backing up all my files and then formatting it and reinstalling everything, but I've never done that before and don't want to do that if it's a hardware issue. The process sounds a bit scary, heh.

Now let's go check in on my 2009 predictions thus far in 2009!

1. The digital TV transition will be mostly hitch-free.
Well, the transition has been officially delayed until June, but stations are now "free to choose" when they want to switch! Yeah, real smart, this issue is confusing enough for the average TV watcher, let's just make it worse! So far, there haven't been mass reports of people wondering why their TVs aren't working, but with the delay (sort of?) I think this one is too early to call!

2. iTunes will cave to the pressure and go fully DRM free in music.
Yep. Right on the money with this one. The majority of their library is now DRM free (if slightly too expensive compared to the Amazon MP3 Store). They're still using AAC format, rather than MP3, but at least it's not locked down to hell.

3. A really good Sci-Fi MMO will both come out and succeed.
So far, this one hasn't come true. Yet.

4. The new Star Trek film will both be the Nerdtacular 2009 film, and will not be remembered fondly.
Well, I'm technically half right here, but the major portion of this prediction, that the film would suck, essentially, is not looking good. By all early accounts, this film is going to be incredible, and the Nerdtacular is going to be a ball of fun because of it!

5. Both Marvel and DC will release more superhero films which futher build up to an eventual Avengers and/or Justice League movie.
So far, no new real announcements from either company about a new movie. Sure, there's the upcoming Wolverine flick, but that won't serve as a build up to an Avengers film (at least I don't THINK it will), so this one's currently a no.

6. The worship of Jesus Christ will explode in a formerly "closed-off" country somewhere in the world.
To my knowledge, this one hasn't occured yet, but we'll see.

7. Two out of the three major missing iPhone 3G features (cut and paste, Multimedia messaging, and turn-by-turn GPS directions) will be added via firmware this year.
Not just two, but ALL THREE of these are finally coming in the summer. About time, Apple. What the heck were you smoking??

8. I will acquire one of the three current major game consoles this year, only to have the next generation of consoles be announced.
There's no news on any new generation of console systems yet, which is good, because I still haven't decided on which console I ultimately want to buy. God I'm so indicisive.

9. Megan and Julie will be living in the garage apartment before February ends.
I think Russell got them in there before the end of that month. I'll call this one a win.

10. Josh and Angie's baby will be a girl.
Wrong here. Badly. Josiah Allen Henry is due to enter the world this summer!

Okay, well, it's Easter, lunch is ready, and I'm done here. So catch ya'll later.

Whoah...where the heck has THIS idiot been?

2009-03-16T16:28:00.003-06:00

Hey folks. It's been an awful long time. But I haven't had a reason to update lately. Most of the things going on in my life can be quickly summed up with some updates to Twitter or the like.

But I think it's time I started updating again, even if I turn this into a gaming blog of some sort. Well to heck with it, Conflagration's my little sector of the internet, and if I feel like rambling about World of Warcraft, then by golly, I'm gonna do it.

But first....I have to say thanks to someone, and his name is Lee Kuhl. You probably know who he is, if you're reading this. If not, let me just say he is without a doubt one of the biggest blessings of my life in recent years. He helped me get some perspective on something going on in my life that was truly troubling to me, and thanks to his advice (plus a lot of prayer), I believe I've done the best I could to set it right.

So I have a new laptop now. I saved up and put the money towards getting a truly awesome gaming laptop that I could take with me to my frequent trips to Waco, yearly Nerdtacular trips, or even if I just feel like going into the living room and not holing up in my bedroom. After doing the research, I ended up deciding to acquire the Doghouse Systems Mobius 17C. Yes, that would be the same one I participated in the naming contest of. My name, "Wardog" ended up coming in second. Mobius, ironically, was submitted by a US Marine recently deployed to Iraq. Still, as is my habit, I decided my lappy needed a new name, and if Wardog couldn't be the model name, it'd serve pretty good as a nickname. So there it is.

How's it run? Well, like a dream, to be honest. I have the settings cranked to the max on World of Warcraft, and in high-traffic and high detail areas, I still get an average of 40 frames a second. In not crowded areas, it shoots up like crazy. If you get on a flying mount and soar over Northrend, the landscape looks gorgeous.

I also installed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on it this weekend (the announcement of a sequel, Modern Warfare 2, got me excited to play it again) and did a couple of levels on that. That game is equally very beautiful. Infinity Ward did some amazing work with making the environments look as realistic as possible, and the Wardog showed it off well. I can't wait to see some of the Orange Box on it. I may never look at Half-Life the same way, heh.

And speaking of gaming, I gotta say I had a LOT of fun with some folks in my guild in World of Warcraft yesterday. We had two raids scheduled for the afternoon/evening. The first one was kind of up in the air as to what was going to take place. Let me explain.

In the new expansion, there is a world zone called "Lake Wintergrasp". It's a big open PvP zone, which means while you're in there, you're flagged for Player vs. Player combat. Every 2 hours or so, the zone becomes contested, which means that one side (Horde or Alliance) must defend the Wintergrasp fortress while the otherside tries to capture it. There is a time limit in place, which the defenders can shorten by taking out the attacker's towers. There are buildings you can capture which produce siege vehicles that you can drive to attack the walls of the Wintergrasp fortress or the attacker's towers. If the attackers capture the fortress, or the defenders hold out until the time expires, they win control of the fortress, and the zone. This has several benefits for the faction as a whole, but the main thing is that once you control Wintergrasp fortress, you can enter a raid dungeon called the "Vault of Archavon" and take on a Runed Giant boss named Archavon. He isn't a hard fight, and drops pretty good items.

So our plan was If we had control of Wintergrasp, we'd do a 25-man raid on the Vault. Well, about 30 minutes or so before we were scheduled to start, the Wintergrasp battle started again. We'd been out doing other PvP battlegrounds for fun, so by the time we jumped back to Wintergrasp...the battle had been going on for a bit, and the Alliance were already inside the inner courtyard of the Fortress. Meaning they were pretty close to winning. We decided to rush to one of the Siege vehicle workshops, take it over, and get some siege vehicles to the attacking enemy towers to shorten the time. Well, didn't work too well. They defended them pretty ferociously. We ended up losing Wintergrasp, so we couldn't do the Vault of Archavon raid.

So this left us to our second objective for the afternoon: Obsidian Sanctum. Obsidian Sanctum is a valley in a volcanic region in which the Black Dragonflight is hatching (literally) one of their new plans for more power. You see, the Black Dragons are pretty friggin' evil, and they want to rule the world. They've tried several plans, including breeding "superior" dragons with abilities from every dragon type in the world. Their latest plan is to breed black dragons infused with the raw magic power of Outland and raise an army of these powerful "Twilight Dragons". Obsidian Sanctum is where these Twilight Dragon eggs are secretly kept. Well, secret until the other dragonflights found out about it and asked some intrepid adventurers to stop them.

Obsidian Sanctum is pretty much oval shaped. Sartharion, the Black dragon watching over the eggs, sits in the middle. Around the perimeter, various draconic creatures patrol. Three Twilight drakes (drakes are younger dragons that have not reached full adulthood, and thus full power) also stand perched on the ledges of the perimeter.

You can click right here to see a picture of it. Sartharion is in the middle, and you can see one of the drakes to the right, partially

The idea is to kill the draconic patrols, deal with the twilight drakes individually, and then take on Sartharion. However, there is a challenge here. You can leave one or more of the twilight drakes alive before starting the fight with Sartharion if you want to make the encounter more challenging. Sartharion alone is not a hard fight, but if you add in the presence of one of the drakes, he becomes substantially more difficult. The drakes are mini-bosses in their own right, so they're not quite pushovers themselves. Why would you do this, you ask? For the challenge, and you get some extra loot if you do it.

We had decided that we were going to leave one drake alive this week. So after dealing with the patrols and the two leftover drakes, we engaged Sartharion. Sure enough, about a minute into the fight, he yelled for Tenebron, the twilight drake still alive, to aid him. Apparently the twilight drakes are jerks, because Tenebron then yelled that he was amused to watch Sartharion suffer, but he'd help anyway. This is what happens when you breed an already evil creature with raw magical power, folks. They become evil jerks.

Tenebron adds a unique dimension to the fight, because he periodically hatches numerous eggs into twilight whelps (baby dragons) to swarm the raid. These whelps will kill a non-heavily armored class pretty quick, so the tank has to get them focused on him, while the DPS players burn them all down. Mind you, this is all while dealing with Tenebron himself and avoiding the waves of lava that Sartharion routinely summons at you all.

Tenebron did claim the lives of a few of our raid members before we dropped him, but after he went down, it became just another Sartharion fight, and we took him down, earning our extra loot, an achievement, and a lot of satisfaction for this challenging little element.

Later that evening was our scheduled run into Naxxramas. Naxxramas is a floating necropolis, a base of the undead Scourge. It's split into 4 quarters, with three bosses each, and then two final bosses after that to deal with. In Wrath of the Lich King, you have the option to do raids in normal mode or heroic mode. Normal mode requires only 10 people. Heroic mode requires about 25, as the bosses are harder (most have extra abilities), but the loot you get is better)

Last night we were going to take on Heroic Naxxramas, and try to fully clear it in one evening (meaning kill all the bosses). Heroics are much harder than normal raids, obviously, and we were hoping to be the first group to defeat every boss within. Well, I could go in to many of the fights, how they work, and how we did in each of them, but you'd get bored by that quickly i think, so let's just say that we did it. We cleared Heroic Naxxramas in one night and earned the achievements that come with it. It was a LOT of fun and I'm very proud to have been a part of it. The guys and girls on our raid team are spectacular players and a lot of fun to be around.

Well I think I'll end this for now. I'm told some folks are coming up from Waco to visit me, Justin, and Stacy soon, with a possible trip to the zoo involved, so that should be fun. I think I get discount tickets from work, actually. I'll have to look into that.

Talk to ya'll later.

2009 Predictions. Lets see how well I do.

2009-01-06T06:42:00.000-06:00

These are my predictions for things that will happen in 2009. They cover technology, gaming, personal friend stuff, the whole gambit. Here goes....

1. The digital TV transition will be mostly hitch-free.
For those of you who don't know, Feb 1st, all TV over-the-air broadcasts are going digital. This ONLY affects you if you get your TV via the antenna. If you have cable/satellite/whatever, you're fine. If not, you need to buy a digital converter box if your TV does not have one built in. I think the spreading of information regarding this changover will be enough that most people will be fine come then. There will be a lot of misinformation propogated out there by cable companies, but most people won't NOT be able to watch TV then.

2. iTunes will cave to the pressure and go fully DRM free in music.
I think the pressure here and sales lost to the other DRM-free options, especially Amazon, will cause iTunes to finally drop DRM on their music.

3. A really good Sci-Fi MMO will both come out and succeed.
The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO is probably the best bet to see this happen, but I predict that this year is the year a Sci-Fi MMO starts to give the fantasy MMO market (mostly World of Warcraft) a serious competitor.

4. The new Star Trek film will both be the Nerdtacular 2009 film, and will not be remembered fondly.
I predict that many will see this film and that it will do very big box office numbers just because of the hype. I also predict the film will not live up to the hype and most watchers, especially the hardcore Trekkies, will not enjoy this film. All that being said, if it IS the 2009 Extralife Nerdtacular film of choice, I will still attend and hope I'm wrong.

5. Both Marvel and DC will release more superhero films which futher build up to an eventual Avengers and/or Justice League movie.
Marvel's overtly done this in both Iron Man and Incredible Hulk. I predict that not only will it continue, but DC will begin hinting at a Justic League movie as well. I do not predict we will see the big team-up films in 2009, just the further build up to them.

6. The worship of Jesus Christ will explode in a formerly "closed-off" country somewhere in the world.
Most folks will never know it because the mainstream media won't cover it, but I predict that a country where another religion is currently dominant and/or state-enforced will see massive numbers of people realize that Christ is the Way, Truth, and Life, and it will lead to major political change.

7. Two out of the three major missing iPhone 3G features (cut and paste, Multimedia messaging, and turn-by-turn GPS directions) will be added via firmware this year
The Multimedia messaging is going out on a limb, but I really think we'll get at least two of these added to this phone this year, mostly due to the extreme competition this phone is going to get from Google Android-based phones.

8. I will acquire one of the three current major game consoles this year, only to have the next generation of consoles be announced.
I predict I will finally decide to purchase an Xbox 360, PS3, or a Wii, and a very short time later, the next generation of consoles from these companies will be unveiled. That's just my luck, heh.

9. Megan and Julie will be living in the garage apartment before February ends.
Not much to say here, I just think it'll happen, and within the next 2 months.

10. Josh and Angie's baby will be a girl.
I got a 50/50 chance of being right on this one, and I think this is what it's going to be.

Ridiculously cute...ridiculously true

2008-12-09T16:00:00.002-06:00

Awww....I can so empathize, little guy.

2009 Christmas list from Amazon

2008-11-28T21:23:00.002-06:00

A call from Josh this evening prompted me to post this. I have updated my Amazon wishlist with possible Christmas gift ideas. If you're wanting to shop for me, first of all, thank you. Second of all, here you go!

Megan

2008-11-15T12:45:00.002-06:00

I know, I'm long overdue for this, but I doubt anyone will be surprised by the information I'm about to type. Most of you who read this were either with me the day it happened, or were informed shortly thereafter. Still, as this IS my blog, and as I am yet again LONG overdue for an update to it, I feel compelled to put something down.

Almost exactly one week ago (about an hour later, I suppose), I asked a lovely young woman whom I'd up to that point been very happy to call a friend to become more than just that. And she responded in the positive. In other words, ladies and gentlemen, she agreed to become my girlfriend.

The lady in question is named Megan Thomas. And she is about as rare and exceptional as I've ever met.

She's smart and posessed of a sharp wit. She loves to read sci-fi and is a big fan of anime. She knows the values in both being alone and of friendship and community. And holy COW is she gorgeous.

But most of all, she has the quiet strength that comes from knowing Jesus on a personal and intimate level. And you can just SEE it by talking with her, interacting with her, or just being around her.

There's probably many other things I could list here, and about a bajillion more I'm sure I'll come to learn about as this relationship progresses. But all these factors make up a truely unique individual whom I'm very very happy to call my friend and extremely ecstatic to call my girlfriend.

Like I said, our relationship is very young, and somewhat complicated by the fact that we live an hour and a half apart. If you love either or both of us, I would greatly appreciate your prayers, and I know she would as well. Thank you.

"Tomorrow we wake up in a different world" - Really? Does that mean I don't have to work anymore?

2008-11-04T23:00:00.003-06:00

Yeah, I know, way overdue for a blogpost. Sorry guys, heh.

Hasn't been much going on lately though. Obviously there's been a lot going on today.

Yeah, Barack Obama's our new president. I don't think anyone's surprised by that. We all knew it was coming, really.

What I am truly shocked over is the number of people who are seriously going nuts over this. I'm reading twitters from people who are seriously crying because Barack Obama won.

Crying.

Seriously?

I seriously cannot believe that. Over a POLITICAL decision. Are people really buying into the insane hype this man has generated? Have you guys learned nothing from history? Politicians NEVER live up to their promises. Somebody please tell me a president in this recent generation who hasn't completely failed to live up to the expectations we all had for them. There isn't one. Not Bush (either of them), not Clinton, not Reagen, not Carter, Ford, none.

I don't care. Finally, it's over. We can move on and just wait for people to realize that this guy isn't perfect either. We've reached the apex of the stupid political hatred. Now can we please tumble down the other side, quickly? I'd like to get on with my life, like we all will, like we all would if McCain had won, or Barr, or whoever else ran.

2008-10-08T12:09:00.001-05:00

Testing Ping.fm out. Looks nifty, not sure how often I'll use it though...

I hate election season because it brings out the stupid.

2008-10-02T22:14:00.002-05:00

No I did not watch the VP debate. For that matter, no I did not watch the Presidential debate. You know why?

Because it doesn't matter anymore. At least not where I'm sitting. Every freaking person I know has LONG ago made their choice, and nearly everyone is far too cynical about the other side to ever truly believe anything they say.

I am sick and tired of talking about it, sick and tired of the sneers and smugness from both sides, and extremely tired of the fact that everyone who is a far extremist on either side is suddenly much louder and harder to ignore. Side effect of the Internet, I suppose.

I'm tired of the constant arrogance of the vocal left about how stupid and provincial the right supposedly is, especially in regards to Sarah Palin. I'm equally tired of the vocal right labeling Barack Obama everything from a radical Muslim terrorist to the Antichrist. I'm tired of liberals telling me I'm an idiot for voting with my morals in mind. I'm equally tired of the conservatives telling me that gays are an abomination and don't deserve the same benefits any straight US citizen can get.

One more month of this crap, then we can elect SOMEBODY. There'll be a frenzy for a while from whatever side loses, then things will settle down with the losing side taking potshots at the president and blaming anything that goes wrong on him. But at least it'll quiet down a bunch.

I hate to be the one to tell you all this, but neither side is completely perfect. The truth is that the real best thing for the country is once again, somewhere in the middle between both of your extremes. And you know something? I'd wager both sides know that and are gonna do their darndest to run the country somewhere in that middle. About the only thing most of us will be able to object to is that it's not close enough to what part of the middle we think it should be in. The rest of you crazy extremists can go mess yourselves, because frankly, you're the ones creating such a disgusting atmosphere.

Despite what a lot of you might really think, I highly doubt either John McCain OR Barack Obama want to run this country into the dirt, and I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that one way or another , they've got the tools at their disposal to mostly do a good job of that. There will be things that some of us won't like, and some of those things may be tough to get through. But you know what? I really think we'll manage, somehow.

The only ideology I aspire to is following God's will. Period. And neither the far left nor the far right extremism ideology is acceptable in His eyes, because it's full of hatred.

So who will I vote for? I'm not certain yet. I know the far left is already lining up their arrogant mockeries about "voting for GOD" and then proceed to yell at me that God doesn't exist or something equally retarded, just like the right is doubtless ready to "remind" me that Democrats support abortion and gay marriage and Obama's pastor is nuts and these things are ANATHEMA TO GOD, how can you not choose MCCAIN! This is why I don't want to talk about it, because if I choose ANYONE, no matter what my reasoning is, it will just get overwhelmed in your minds by this nonsense, and then you'll have to say it, of course.

Shut up. Just. Shut. Up. I am so tired of hearing this insanity. I am so tired of this idiotic ideological split and how we spew vile hatred-filled barbs at each other. I'm done. I officially refuse to participate in any more of this worthless crap until ALL of you come together in a spirit of reason, understanding, cooperation, and compromise.

Have you people forgotten that we're all Americans here? More importantly, did you forget that we're all human-frakking-BEINGS? What in God's name is the freaking POINT of all this idiotic hatred for each other???

Nerdcraft!

2008-09-24T12:10:00.000-05:00

Warning: Warcraft-related nerd-rant thing incoming. Ignore if you don't care.

Last night in our Karazhan run, I decided to go for another respec, switching back to a deep frost build. Why? I respec my mage a lot. It gives me a chance to swap between three different variations of the mage play-style, and keep my skills sharp on all of them. I also do it to avoid the common trap of sticking to one spec and proclaiming it to be the best of all, and that all other specs are less than useless. There are many players, hardcore raiders chief among them, who fall victim to this idiocy. Anyone who's been paying attention with an open mind can tell you that properly backed up with skill and gear, all three mage specs are easily viable methods of doing damage.

I took my new frost build into Kara, expecting not to do as much damage as I typically do mostly due to the fact that I wear the spellfire set during PvE, which adds a large amount of spellpower, but only for Fire and Arcane spells. The gear I use when playing frost is not nearly as potent, consisting of the Season 1 PvP Robe, the Season 3 PvP Gloves, and typically the cloth belt from Karazhan, which I can neither remember the name of nor the boss it drops from. However, I've been making a recent move to try and replace my spellfire set for when the new expansion comes out. As part of that, I had a Belt of Blasting crafted, and now typically wear that. I'm also working on obtaining enough Badges of Justice to get the Tormented Demonsoul Robes, and finding some other gloves. More on this in a bit.

I was extremely suprised at the results from last night's run. I was on top of the damage for nearly the entire time, and I have some very good DPS in my raid team, ones I had trouble competing with when I was deep fire. I think this is due to any number of causes. For one, we had not one, but two paladins last night: Secondaid's paladin jumped in to tank, and to replace Secondaid as our primary healer, we brought back our former team leader, Zewt, to heal for the night. So that's two paladins when we typically have none, so I got back the Paladin blessing which reduces threat, which is a huge issue for mages, especially fire ones. The other factor might have been Visygoth's shaman who came in to DPS. I got him to give me a three second warning when he was going to use his Bloodlust ability, so I could summon my Water Elemental before he did. Bloodlust increases casting and attack speed for every member of your party, including pets, for a short time, so my elemental's casting speed went up as well. Then I typically used the mage Icy Veins ability, which is a self-buff that also increases casting time for a short period. Bloodlust and Icy Veins stack with each other, so for a brief period of time, I was throwing out Frostbolts extremely quickly, pounding bosses over and over. Couple that with Cold Snap, which instantly finishes the cooldown time on Icy Veins and Water Elemental, and I could use them both again right away. I'd forgotten just how much punishment frost mages can throw out using those combinations, and it was a blast to rediscover it.

Now, back to the gear thing. Burning Crusade introduced a new aspect to the tailoring profession, the ability to specialize into one of three types of cloth: Spellcloth, Shadowcloth, and Primal Mooncloth. What this essentially gave you was the ability to create one of three 3-piece sets that was very powerful and would last you a long time in the end-game PvE progression. Nearly every mage, warlock, and priest took up the tailoring profession for these items.
However, there was a caveat. The sets were geared towards specific schools of magic. The Primal Mooncloth set added healing, the Shadoweave set added Frost and Shadow damage, and the Spellfire set added Fire and Arcane damage.

For Warlocks and Shadow Priests, the choice was simple: Both of these classes make heavy use of the Shadow school of magic, so they picked that. Mages, however, had a choice to make. They could spec their character into Fire, Frost, or Arcane (or some combo of both), so these sets forced them to choose: Stick with Frost exclusively, or at least have a choice between Fire and Arcane. Of course, you could collect alternate items to these sets and use them if you wanted to change to a spec they didn't support, but finding items as GOOD as the tailored items was all but impossible at the time.

I chose the latter of those two options, getting the Spellfire set. My reasoning was that if I have to lock myself into a spec, I'd rather have 2 to choose from rather than only one. Plus, the set had other stats that were better for mages, namely more intellect than the Shadoweave set, and critical strike rating. My mage is still wearing most it to this day, and during that time I've used fire and arcane specs both a great deal. I've tried frost a few times, but not having gear comparable to the spellfire set to replace it with has made these efforts usually short-lived.

Blizzard added some items that were more accessible to a lot of players via the Badge of Justice system in recent patches of the game, and some of these are comparable to the tailored sets. In fact, the robe I mentioned above is one I'm currently collecting enough Badges to obtain now.
However, it may be a moot point. In the upcoming expansion, Blizzard has changed how gear adds to the damage capability of our spells. +Spell Damage and +healing stats are no more. There is only Spellpower, which affects damage and healing spells differently. As a side effect of this, they've changed these tailoring sets to no longer be school-specific. All three sets now affect both damage and healing spells, all of them.

This means I no longer truly have to focus on replacing my Spellfire set if I want to spec into Frost. I'm quite happy about this, even though I still want to get those Robes (they have other statistics that the spellfire robe does not). I have never been a fan of locking myself out of other options needlessly, and now I don't have to.

This is exceptionally good because this change is being introduced in the 3.0 patch, which will come a month or so before Wrath is released in stores. During this time, the massive changes to the talent point system are also coming into play. I've been following the changes to the mage talents, and thus far I am very excited about them. It makes me very happy to know I can swap between them all at will without worrying if my gear can back them up, now I know they can.

My recent frost successes, as well as the very little time I've had to test Frost out on the public test realms, are starting to convince me to try playing with that spec first. The addition of Fingers of Frost, which let you treat targets like they're frozen even if they aren't (or are immune to such an effect normally) promises some serious DPS increase for the spec against boss-level mobs, especially combined with the new Deep Freeze spell. I also like the addition of Improved Water Elemental, which gives you additional time on the Elemental, and supposedly regenerates mana as long as it's up, though I understand this isn't working at the moment.

Fire is also looking extremely good. The major talent I'm looking forward to playing with is Hot Streak. Crit twice in a row with a scorch or fireball, get an instant cast Pyroblast. With a high enough crit rating, you could proc this like crazy. The real question will be dealing with the additional threat it generates. Living Bomb looks like a great addition to mage AOE... damaging not only your target, but also those nearby them and knocking them back. The addition of a knockback to Blastwave also looks promising. I really can't wait to try this on those AOE pulls in Karazhan.

Arcane...I had very high hopes for this spec, I really did. It looked incredible. The damage potential of an Arcane Blast/Arcane Missile spec was already high as it was, combined with Missile Barrage, the new Arcane Barrage spell, and the other utility talents like Focus Magic, and it was looking incredible on paper. Then the more recent updates to the Wrath beta changed Arcane Blast, the primary spell of an arcane build, to increase the mana cost by 300% every time it's cast for 3 sec after you cast it. The spell always had a debuff where it would reduce the casting time but increase the mana for a small time period after you cast it, but never that much. That amount is way too excessive. I tried it in the public test realms, and it eats your mana so quickly, it's all but unusable. I'm hopeful Blizzard will respond to the huge outcry over this and change the spell to a more workable means, but until I see that happen, I won't spec Arcane.

Wow, I talked a LOT about this topic. Okay, guess I'll end it here. Thanks and see ya'll later.

The Battle of Undercity...How will it play out??

2008-09-22T22:18:00.002-05:00

So, as you can well imagine, given my obsessive information personality, with the second World of Warcraft expansion on the horizon, I have naturally been up to my eyeballs in trying to learn as much about it from the beta testing as possible.

There are any number of things I could discuss about it here, but I'd like to talk about a particular piece of information I just found out about.

Apparently there is a quest chain for both the Horde and the Alliance which ultimately ends with one of their major figures getting killed (Bolvar Fordragon for the Alliance, and Saurfang the Younger for the Horde) and that Varimathras (the dreadlord in Undercity, Sylvanas' pet and majordomo) is responsible. He's taken control of Undercity, along with someone named "Grand Apothecary Putress".

From what I can tell happens next, there is a massive gathering in both Orgrimmar and Stormwind, with the faction leaders from both sides rallying everyone together to march on the Undercity (the Horde to take it back, the Alliance to destroy it). NPCs and Players alike fight their way into the city, fighting massive raid bosses, and the whole time there's dialogue between all the major NPCs of your side. Ultimately, the Alliance fights their way into the Apothecarium and kills Putress, and the Horde makes it to the Undercity Throne room and kills Varimathras.

At this point, the Alliance storms into the Throne Room, and levies accusations at the Horde that they were in fact responsible for Varimathras' murder of Bolvar Fordragon. He orders the charge on the Horde...

...only Jaina Proudmore freezes the entire alliance army, teleports them back to Stormwind, and laments with Thrall that the war between the Alliance and the Horde is further away from a true end than ever, and that they will doubtless fight each other just as much as they fight the Undead scourge.

Needless to say, if you've played World of Warcraft to any significant degree, you get how epic this is. I didn't see anything like this from the Alliance perspective, but my information indicates that during this quest, Orgrimmar is all but SHUT DOWN. None of the shops or anything is open for business, Orgrimmar is crawling with Undercity refugees, there is from all the major war-leader NPCs about plans of attack, rallying, all that sort of thing. This is totally unprecedented in this game, and it's extremely cool

What I don't see, and what concerns me, is how this gets started. What prompts this to happen?

My best guess is that given the scope and epic grandness of this whole quest chain, is that this has to be a one-time only "world event" that happens in the game to transition us from the world of "WoW:Burning Crusade" to "WoW: Wrath", if that makes any sense.

If you recall, there was a pretty massive event that went on before Burning Crusade came out...the Dark Portal opening and scores of demons pouring out...a massive raid boss that randomly spawned launching attacks on the major cities...

This is on the same epic level. Actually, it's beyond that. I've never seen an event that shut a major city down like this. And this is why I think it's a limited-time thing. If this was present in Wrath of the Lich King where ANYONE could do it...anyone could solely shut Orgrimmar down for this event at any time. No way does that happen...no, this has got to be a limited time thing.

However it happens, I'm sure we'll be hearing more soon. I cannot wait to experience it firsthand...there's a LOT of storyline to be told here, a lot of character development, and a lot of interesting dynamics to be at play. I want to see it if I can.

Home again home again Jiggity Jog.

2008-09-06T13:01:00.003-05:00

A few updates, which you might have been seeing already if you've been following me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thebmatt I've been using this particular service like a madman recently. It's been a lot more convenient to use it now that I have an iPhone and can reasonably access it and view it from anywhere.

Mom finally got to come home from the hospital a week ago this past Friday. The doctor finally felt like she was in a good enough state that he was sure she wouldn't have any problems at home. She had planned to take two weeks off to recover, so she's been at home all this past week trying to do just that. Her arms still have bandages on them, but she's expected to get those off come Tuesday. So it looks like it was a resounding success and the worst of it is over. Praise God for that. Mom's been through far too much in this entire saga of trying to get her health back into shape, and now the final piece of all of that is gone, the excess skin. I'm so happy for her, I almost can't put it into words.

To all of my friends in Waco: I love you all and miss you dearly. I think Mom will be in good enough shape after this past week that she'll be fine if I come down to Waco and see you all again, assuming you're all okay with that, especially Justin, since he has thus far been kind enough to allow me to stay in his room. I should have a sweet awesome dungeoun crawl ready for my D&D players as well. Be prepared! Some of this stuff is gonna be downright freaky. Mwahahaha.

I got my troll shaman up to level 58 last night. That means he's a high enough level to explore the game's content that was added in the first expansion pack, which was designed to be a lot more enjoyable and a lot more rewarding that the content in the original game, in my opinion.

All right, just wanted to update everyone on that. Later.

Mom's surgery

2008-08-27T00:42:00.003-05:00

Hey guys. As many of you doubtless know, my mother had elective cosmetic surgery on Monday. It was to remove a large amount of excess skin she had on her midsection and the underside of her upper arms. She's lost a LOT of weight over the past few years, and that was a remnant of it. She wanted for so long to get it removed, and she was finally able to make it happen.

They were actually supposed to do it a month ago, but her doctor delayed it because her Blood pressure before the operation was too high. She got back on medication for it, got it down to normal, so they did the procedure this week.

It was a pretty long procedure, and eventually, after she recovered, they got her in a room. Initially, her doctor thought she had a blood vessel that was still open after they closed her up the first time. So they reopened a small part of her incision and checked the area, but it looked like the vessel had clotted, so they closed her.

Her doctor checked on her later, and noticed that there was a lot of bright red blood in one of the drains they left attached to her. She was still bleeding somewhere internally. They took her back to surgery, opened her up, found the vessel was not clotted after all, and sutured it up. She lost quite a bit of blood as you can imagine, but it wasn't a serious amount. They put her in ICU as a precaution, in essense to have a closer eye on her and to be able to get more blood in her if they needed to quickly.

She's been in there since. Her doctor is basically taking all the steps needed to move her forward on recovery very slowly, just to make sure she doesn't start bleeding again. When I left her today, she'd been given a unit of blood but it looked like to all appearances that she was doing better. He still didn't move her out of ICU or see if she could walk around yet. He was supposed to come see her that evening, but when I went home, he still hadn't come. I don't know if she got moved back up to her room yet.

We're still hopeful that she'll get to come home tomorrow, but it's looking less and less likely. Thursday is probably the day she comes home, if all continues to go well, and we need your prayers that this is what happens.

All right, I need to go to bed finally. I'll catch ya'll later.

The story isn't over, and yet we'll never know it.

2008-08-23T22:56:00.003-05:00

I want more Harry Potter.

I'm serious. I want another story from the Harry Potter universe. And J.K. Rowling has only herself to blame for this.

While I did enjoy the ending of the seventh book, I will admit I was highly disappointed in the literary device she used. The book ends very suddenly after the final battle, and then we see a sudden shift to "Nineteen years later" with all the main characters married and sending their own children off to Hogwarts. Essentially, we're left with a massive amount of time from the immediate aftermath of the fateful day of Voldemort's death to that point all to our imaginations. And of course, since Rowling drew that to our attention by adding in the epilogue itself, we are completely forced to wonder about what all happened in there.

And frankly, for me, that's not enough. I mean, what in the world does Harry DO in the days after he more or less saves the whole freaking wizarding world? What about the other characters? Do they even go back to Hogwarts for their final year, which less we forget, they completely skipped out on? (Not that the students who didn't leave actually got any kind of a real education in their final year anyway...)

Here's another major point for me that in my opinion, Rowling failed utterly in: the final relationships of the major characters. Oh sure, we saw them with their first experiences at it and how well those went, and eventually we see them admit their true feelings for each other, but then we get swept right back in to the final conflict and don't really pick those back up. Okay, yeah, we all know Harry never stopped truly caring for Ginny. Yeah, we all know Ron and Hermione are meant for each other. But we never really see that grow beyond the initial point, especially not for Ron and Hermione, and then, BOOM! Oh look, it's nineteen years later. They're all married and have kids now. Hey look, their kids are kinda like them when they were that age, isn't that nifty? BOOK ENDS!

Ugh. Fail. Big huge whopping fail on that whole subplot as far as I'm concerned.

I'm not suggesting she should have added more chapters to the book, by any means. Deathly Hallows is rather long as it is, and that's probably the reason for the sudden ending and "many-years-later"-style epilogue. But it's an extremely unsatisfying way to end the series. Rowling, I'm telling you, you need to do one more book. Cover one last year, starting the day after Voldemort bites it. Show us how Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione, truly fall so deeply in love. Show us the start of Harry and Ron's Auror careers. Show us the new Wizarding world, under Kingsley Shacklebolt's leadership. Show us how Hogwarts rebuilds and lives on under McGonagall. How everyone who lives copes not only with the tragedy of those who died, but also the thrill of not being in mortal fear for their lives, for the first time in years. If you need a conflict, pit Harry and everyone against some mysterious figure trying to unite the remnants of the Death Eaters. It's easily done. And it's a story that we need to read. A "proper" ending, so to speak, rather than the extremely rushed ending that Deathly Hallows gave us.

I'm begging you, Rowling. I really want to know how this story REALLY ends.

One step closer.

2008-08-20T22:04:00.002-05:00

Oh wow, 17 days without blogging. What the frak is wrong with me??

I have been twittering like a crazy man though...just click the twitter link over there to the right (or if you're reading this from Facebook, it's in the boxes tab of my profile, well that is if you're on the NEW facebook. If you're on the old facebook, it's somewhere on my profile...). You might find some pretty interesting reads there.

I'll make this one quick: I got a call from someone at the VA, she had noticed a typo in my application for working there. Basically, I was one number off when I listed the job announcement number on the application, and it didn't match the job pay grade I was going for, it was one level higher. She called to confirm that it was a typo, because they didn't think I would be qualified for the higher grade job yet, but the lower grade I definitely looked qualified for (it's mostly due to lack of real work IT experience).

Obviously you guys can guess what this means, it looks like they might just be moving forward with me for this position. I'm so incredibly stoked about that, you all have no idea. Actually, you might have an idea. Prayer, please! Lots of it!

I'm going to head to bed now...two more days for this week. Night all.

Mass update!

2008-08-03T18:35:00.004-05:00

Hey guys. Wow, it's been way too long since I blogged last. I'm a slacker.

So, here's the triple skinny. First up, for those wondering how our music project from last month is going, It's getting closer and closer to being done. According to David he's got 2 more songs to mix, then he probably has to take care of the album artwork and then start mass-producing. So we're not far off at all.

By the way, if you're wanting to hear what our FIRST project, This is Love, sounds like, there's a rumor goin' around that you're going to be able to get BOTH projects bundled together as well! I can't say that for certain, but keep an eye open for more news on that.

But, I do have something for you. If you'll head over to Facebook, you can find that David's uploaded about 60 pictures from the event on there. You should be able to scroll through my wall and find the starting point. I'm not sure if you can view the full album if you aren't David's friend, let me know if that's the case and I'll rehost them in my profile. The pictures turned out really good, and I think you'll enjoy them.

So...I have an iPhone now. Yeah. My contract was up for renewal this past month, so I was eligible for the cheaper prices. I didn't want to just keep my old phone (had a few too many problems with reception on it) so I decided to upgrade. This thing really is phenomenal. I'm sure you're all aware of what the thing can do, but let me mention a few things I've noticed personally just playing with it this weekend.

1. The camera on this thing is a LOT better quality than I expected. Maybe it's just because I was used to my old phone's camera (which wasn't terribly good) but I'm shocked how clear the pictures on it have come out.

2. The GPS doesn't do turn by turn directions (although that IS forthcoming from what I hear) but it does locate you and map you to your destination very well.

3. The SMS-as-a-sort-of-chat-window interface, and Visual Voice Mail, are very cool features for keeping track of the coversations you've had. And I love that I don't have to go through AT&T's stupid menu system just to change my Voicemail greeting.

4. The Internet. Wherever (well, almost) I want. And not filtered by some stupid corporation. BRILLIANT.

5. The reception, at least in the house, has thus far been AWESOME.

So, yeah, I like it. It doesn't quite have the storage capacity the iPod Touch I have does, but I can work within that easily.

Speaking of which...I do have a perfectly working iPod Touch that I do want to sell now. I also have an older (but still working very well) 5th Gen iPod to sell as well (the 5th gen, if you recall, was the first iPod model that did video). So if you're interested in purchasing either of them, let me know, we can talk about price then. If no one is interested, I'll probably just put them on eBay. You'll be getting the actual player, headphones, the USB cable, and a case with either purchase, by the way.

It is FREAKING HOT in this house. Our cheap-ass landlords stuck us with an undersized air conditioner a few years back that does NOT adequately cool this house down during the hot months, and ESPECIALLY not this month. It's been record highs all week, and this weekend was the worst. I really pray it gets cooler soon, because I'm not sure how much more of sweating during the afternoon I can take...blech.

Okay, last minor tidbits:

1. My shaman alt is FINALLY level 40. Which means he can wield a weapon in each hand, wear mail armor, and...well, that's it. But still, it's a big deal. Being able to Dual-wield means he hits at a much faster rate, and can pound through enemies a lot quicker. And the mail armor I had been saving up for him looks sweeeeet!

2. If you STILL have not seen the Dark Knight, you need to remedy that. Like...now. In fact, if I come down to Waco this weekend (which is looking more and more likely) I will happily take anyone who wants to see it one random night, on me. It's totally worth it. And once that's done, if you're an anime fan, you should give the DVD animated film Batman: Gotham Knight a try. It's basically a series of 6 animation shorts that form a cohesive storyline with each done by a seperate animation team. They're all very different, but still very cool. And the special edition DvD comes with 4 episodes from the old Bruce Timm Batman animated series that was on when we were all younger. I loved that series. Oh, and a double-awesome point: they have the same voice actor doing the voice of Batman in Gotham Knight as well. AWESOMENESS

3. The LORD REIGNS!

Okay, I have to go now and find someplace cooler in this house. My room, for some reason, is hotter than the rest of the house. I don't know why. Later guys!!

2008 Nerdtacular Report!

2008-07-21T21:13:00.003-05:00

Oh mah Gawd, Nerdtacular was friggin' COOL!

So I arrive Friday night in Salt Lake City, Utah, after my first flight ever, by the way. I get a shuttle ride to the hotel, and meet Jeff (aka Bronco from the myextralife.com forums) and we hit up Ruby Tuesday for lunch. Friggin' tasty. Jeff, by the way, is a friggin' HOSS. This dude rode his motorcycle from Toronto all the way out to Salt Lake City. Seriously.

That's Jeff. This was taken from Saturday morning in the actual Theatre

So anyway, after that, Josh and Reggie show up. These guys, I know pretty well from our World of Warcraft guild. They're good dudes, for the most part. They roadtripped it from Colorado in Josh's Prius (wooo fellow Prius owner!) and were a ball to hang out with.

Josh is the one kinda on the side, and Reggie front and center.

We all hung out and waited for the last member of the Out of town brigade, Samantha Jane. SJ has been around the Extralife community forever, and everyone loves her, cause she's an awesome girl. Well lo and behold, the whole crew was keepin' a secret from me. Arriving with SJ in his rental car was none other than cohost of the Instance podcast and my fellow Texan, Austin's own Randy Jordan, aka Randy Deluxe!

I totally didn't know he was coming, apparently everyone else did though.

Anyways, so friday night we all go out to the Red Rock Brewery for some good food and for some people, some good beer. After that, Scott himself (along with his awesome wife, Kim) met us at the hotel to actually meet Randy face-to-face for the first time, as well as the rest of us. But Randy and Scott have cohosted the Instance for a long time together, and it was pretty cool to see them meet for the first time. We all had a blast hangin' out in Randy's room, catching up, hearing what was gonna go down at the Nerdtacular itself, and just getting to know each other.

So Saturday morning rolls around, and the Nerdtacular proper happens. I could tell you what all happened there, but this video covers it all so much better. Watch and enjoy the festivities

Suffice to say, we had a phenomenal time and The Dark Knight is seriously one of the best films in modern movie history. Even if you're NOT a comic book fan, you WILL enjoy this movie, I promise. It's that good.

After the movie ended, we headed out to a nearby park, where Scott had aranged for catering to feed us all. Got to meet a bunch more cool people from the Extralife forums, eat some good chicken, pet a few puppies, and cake. Yes there was CAKE. The lady who made the cakes, Rachel I think was her name, is really good. I'll have some photos linked later on, but her cakes were awesome looking. I felt bad eating them. But not that bad. Mmmm.

After that, the Nerdtacular is technically over for most. But not for the out of town folks! Oh no, not at all. For us, Scott did something extra which was INCREDIBLY cool.

He invited us into his home. Kim fed us Jambalaya. And Pie. And Scott and Randy did a live episode of the Instance podcast from his backyard, with the rest of us as his studio audience! Too freaking awesome. You can download that particular episode here....or you can watch this awesome video of the whole thing!

Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV

What happens typically is that Scott records the podcast from his office, and Randy joins him over Skype from Austin. Scott also usually broadcasts the recording over Ustream.tv, which you can go to and watch it live, as well as chat with other people watching it live. Scott just happened to record the broadcast as well.

Now typically, after the show's over, Scott cuts the feed, goes and edits the show. But this time, he decided to continue broadcasting as we go in to eat the delicious pie. So the laptop gets set on the counter in his kitchen...and myself and Samantha Jane decide we're gonna talk to the people in the chat room, with other people joining us when they feel like it! We did this for about 25 minutes, and it all got captured in the below video.

Near the beginning the video does freeze for a bit, but the audio will keep going. Don't panic, that's just ustream lagging, nothing you can do. It will right itself in a few minutes. Also, the audio does clip pretty bad sometimes, but it's mostly pretty good. Enjoy!

Streaming .TV shows by Ustream

You can click here to view all the photos I assembled on Facebook. This post on www.myextralife.com also has links to a BUNCH more photos and stuff from the event. Go there and enjoy the madness.

All in all, it was truly a great experience, and I'm definitely going to do it again next year if I can. I'll be adding more photos to Facebook as more people make theirs available to me (including Samantha Jane and Randy) so keep an eye out there.

Love ya'll and see ya soon

Like a Champion - or as much of it as I can tell you right now, anyway

2008-07-09T22:31:00.004-05:00

Greetings my friends.

As you're all probably aware, I recently came home from my second trip to New Mexico to record a worship album. You're probably familiar with the first one: This is Love.

If you're not, This is Love is/was/however you like to look at it/ an experimental worship project. It was spun out of my ska band, Monkeywrench. Specifically, our song, Strength for Stephanie.

Strength for Stephanie was a song asking God to be with Stephanie Maddox, a friend of all of ours who was in China, serving the Lord. The Bridge of the song consisted of a horn composition, driven primarily by Sam Shannon on the saxophone. During this part, David read the first part of Psalm 139, specifically verses 1-12. It was a particularly powerful little section.

Two years after that song's release (as a part of Monkeywrench's second CD, Album the Two: Now We're Getting Somewhere), four members of Monkeywrench took a trip during the summer of 2005 into the mountains of New Mexico: David Butler, Truett Butler, Robert Peugh, and myself. Our purpose was to get away from the city, into God's natural creation, and record an album called "This is Love". You might recognize the title, it's the first part of 1 John 4: 10.

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

The overall theme of the album is just that. The album takes you from creation, to the fall, to the prophecy of the Messiah, to his death, his resurrection, and our Joy and Hope.

It was a great experience, and the album, of everything I've done, is easily my favorite one that I've ever been a part of.

If you haven't heard it, let me know. I've got a few copies left, and I believe my brother Josh Henry has the full album on his computer. A few other people left in Waco may still have copies as well. I think Chris and Kelley might. If you have the chance to listen to it, I hope you enjoy it and that God speaks to you through it somehow. That's really the whole point of it after all.

So, onto this past week. We went back. This time, we took another. David's wife, Holland. She, as it turns out, is a musician herself.

This particular album returned to the original roots: The Psalms. They were, after all, songs to God themselves. We explored the many themes present in the Psalms, including....well, I don't think I can tell you that. I'll let you hear it for yourself once the album is done!

What I can say is this: With this album, we have explored some very different music. After hearing what we laid down, even roughly mixed as it was, I have never, ever heard anything like it. I'm truly amazed at what God put together with us. I really think you will be too.

The album, as you doubtless all know, is titled "Like a Champion". It's from Psalm 19, specifically verse 5, though I encourage you to read the whole Psalm as well.

I'll keep you updated with the status of the project as I know it. But right now, David has the final tasks to perform: the arduous process of mixing and mastering the album to it's final polished state. It's not quite over yet. Be in prayer for him, if you think about it.

I'll see you all on the flipside. We did take a lot of pictures, and I'll show them to you all here and on Facebook as I get them.

That's it for me. Night.

Twenty Five.

2008-07-08T23:48:00.002-05:00

I'm almost too late on doing this, but I must continue the tradition...

Twenty-five years old.

David would kill me if I forgot to do that.

Yes, I know, you all want to know about Like a Champion, I'll post an update about it tomorrow.

I have a new Logitech G15 keyboard and a new Spyder paintball gun!

Also I'm going to bed now.

Like a Champion.

2008-06-28T19:54:00.003-05:00

Hey all.

I know it's been a while, but aside from work, not a whole lot going on. Quite a bit of WoW Playing, I suppose, but a lot of prayer and preparation has been going into something else. Something I'm very excited to be a part of

You all might recall that back in the summer of 2005, myself, David Butler, Truett Butler, and Robert Peugh set out to the Mountains of New Mexico, in a town called Eagle Nest. There we stayed for a solid week, being in fellowship together and working on a music project.

We dubbed it "an experimental worship album". Basically, it consisted of scripture read to music, all thematically connected. When we set out, all we had was a name and some song ideas. The name was "This is Love".

By the week's end, we had an album that took you through the creation story, the results of man's sin, prophecies of Christ, the Passion, the joy of redemption, and praises to His name.

I may be biased because I did the percussion work, but I seriously LOVE how this album turned out. I cannot tell you how AWESOME it is that this all just came together in one week. I don't know how we did it, other than to simply say it was God. I wish I had it online so I could share it with you, unless you have it already. Sadly, I do not.

I've done two ska albums with these same guys (and five other members, heh) but I think this might just be some of the best music we've ever done. You can even click here to learn more about it in a post of mine from 2006.

Well, all that is to say: We're doing it again.

In about 2-3 hours, Dave, Truett, Rob, and new member Holland will be here to pick me up, and we're driving all night to Eagle Nest to place our talents and our entire week in the hands of God, hoping to come out with something really good that people will be blessed by.

We're calling it "Like a Champion".

It's from Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

We're a little more prepared this time, I think. We have a couple of tunes kind of set in stone already, and an idea for how the theme is going to play out, but it's no less God using us, we hope. It's been our prayer since we decided to do this.

To all of you reading this: I ask you to please be praying for us. For our safety as we travel. For our week to be productive and enjoyable. For God's hand to be on this album. For us to get our selves out of the way and just be used by the almighty. More than anything, for that one.

I'll be gone all week. God willing, I will return with great stories, great anticipation for what I hope is a great project, and LOTS of awesome photos.

I love ya guys, and I'll see you sson.

It ain't happening.

2008-06-16T18:26:00.002-05:00

Hi again guys.

This past weekend, I had a chance to see THREE films, two in theatre, and one that I should have seen a long time ago on DVD.

Let me tell you about the DVD one first: It was Serenity, the movie continuation of the FOX-network-canceled-but-became-a-huge-DVD-hit TV series, Firefly. If you haven't given Firefly a real honest shot, you need to. It really is good, even if you don't like Sci-Fi, although it's just as easy to see it as a Western. Whatever your perspective, the show is brilliantly written and acted, and should never have been canceled, if the massive DVD and film sales have any say in the matter. Serenity more or less wraps up the outstanding plotlines that developed over Firefly's abruptly ended single season, but still manages to feel very epic in the process, especially if you've seen the series. There's not much in the way of "reintroduction" of everyone, but it's enough to get you to understand who everyone is and their outstanding relationships. Still, you'll get much more out of it having seen Firefly first. I recommend both.

The Incredible Hulk is Marvel Studio's attempt at redoing the big Green Guy (they're the film arm of Marvel Comics, creator of Hulk), and after the other recent Hulk film, which was directed by Ang Lee and starred Eric Bana, I had some reservations about this one. You might as well. I have a message for you all: DON'T. This film is LIGHT-YEARS beyond that first one. It stars Ed Norton and Liv Tyler, both of whom deliver great performances. The CGI of the Hulk and Abomination both look great, and their battle really feels visceral and brutal, like the animated character have real weight to them. There's also plenty of references to the original show from back in the 70s, and lots of sly comic references for fans to spot. The ending appearance by...well, actually, not gonna say it, topped the proverbial cake. This film is good, and if you were a fan of Iron Man, check this one out too...it won't disappoint.

Finally, I saw the newest M. Night Shyamalan film: The Happening.

It was atrocious. Really really bad. I am seriously warning you all not to waste your money

I could go on and on about how utterly STUPID this film's plot was, how bad the acting was, and how horrible the direction looked, but I'm not. Because Christopher Orr of The New Republic has already done so. His review explains EXACTLY what is so awful about this film. It does have spoilers, but trust me, you WANT to read this if you're thinking about seeing this film.

Click here to read it. Please.

Aight guys, that's all for now. I'll see you around. Be well, blessed, and watched over. Love ya'll

Summer Fun, yet again!!

2008-06-03T18:02:00.000-05:00

Greetings once again, my semi-loyal readership (all 5 of you!).

Life has been interesting lately. It's summer, obviously, and that means it's freaking hot. Like, really freaking hot. I'm talking "wondering-why-my-face-hasn't-melted-off" hot. I suppose the actual face melting will come during August, since it seems to always be hottest that month.

But summer USED to mean fun times cause there was no school and you had off a few months to have yourself a good time. Well, not so much anymore. Now I've gotta work. Side effect of growing up.

Well this summer looks to be very very different. Lots of different plans are coming together to make this one truly enjoyable. Some of them have already begun.

This past Sunday, myself and a gang of my friends hit up Six Flags over Texas. We all decided we want to try and hit as many theme parks in the state of Texas as is humanly possible this summer, and this was the first of what I hope will be many. Despite the stifling heat, my gut-churning fear of roller coasters, and the missing of one of our Alliance (specifically Megan) we had some good times all the same.

I still don't know HOW they did it, but they talked me into going on the freaking Mr. Freeze. Yeah, that one. The one that is incredibly tall, loops around a bunch, then goes straight up, and then drops you to do the whole thing in reverse. It actually wasn't terribly bad, mostly because the whole thing is over in less than 20 seconds, and there's no "slowly ascending a big hill in anticipation, they use magnets to accelerate you to 60 mph in 4 seconds. If ya think about it, the coaster is essentially a giant railgun. Still, yes I did scream in horrified terror the whole ride. I sat out the Titan, the Texas Giant, and the Batman though. Babysteps, people, babysteps.

Going on Sunday and getting there just after it opened meant we had nearly zero wait time for everything. I recommend it.

I'm not sure what's next on the list of parks. Hurricane Harbor is obviously right next door, and there's always the little-known but still tons of fun Burger's Lake. Not to mention the trifecta of Seaworld, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and Schlitterbahn down a little further south in San Antonio (or close to it). Astroworld's in Houston as well. Lots to look forward to.

There's also the Extralife Nerdtacular next month as well. For those who don't know what that is yet, last year, Scott Johnson of www.myextralife.com hosted a gathering in Utah for any local fans of his comic and podcasts (including Extralife Radio, The Instance, and Infendo Radio), as well as anyone willing to fly out there. Everyone got together, hung out, and watched the premeir of Spider-Man 3. Well, this year he's doing it again, this time with the premeir of Batman: The Dark Knight. And this year, I'm going to go. I've got my ticket for the film already reserved, and am looking forward to meeting Scott, as well as a few of the other peoples I've met via his message boards and the World of Warcraft guild. These guys are very interesting people, and I think it will be worth it to meet them in person, not to mention enjoy what is shaping up to be a stellar film.

But I think the one thing I'm looking forward to more than anything this summer is the next musical project I'm going to be a part of. Yes, that's right. It's coming to pass. Currently code named "This is Love 2", the original foursome who brought "This is Love" from the mind of God to your ears is getting together to do it again. But this time, we have some additions to the crew: Holland Butler and Stephanie Hahn will be joining the project. I can't say much about in what capacity, cause that would spoil the suprise, but I think this one can only get better from the last.

But for that to happen, I am asking for your prayers. Please be praying for us. Be praying for our artistic abilities. For our minds to be open to what God wants to do with this. For us to be able to clear our schedules. For everything. This is Love was one of the coolest experiences of my life, and I desperately want this one to be just as good.

Incidentally, if anyone is wanting a copy of the original, I have acquired a few more from David. Let me know in any of the usual means, I'll set it aside for you.

I think this is shaping up to be one of the greatest summers I've had in a long time. I look forward to sharing it with all of you.

Til later

Victim of a hacking: One man's experiences.

2008-05-26T22:22:00.004-05:00

Been a while, I know, but I simply haven't had anything terribly interesting to write about. But this weekend, Jeff Deonarine came through my particular section of Fort Worth, and we spend last night and all day today hanging out. We saw Prince Caspian, which I thought was a rather excellent film. Not having read the book in some time, I can't say how it compares. I really do need to acquire a complete set of the Chronicles of Narnia, I suppose.

Jeff's got himself a shiny motorcycle now, and he's road tripping all the way to Pennsylvania. He's already been through Waco though, so if ya didn't see him, sorry, but it looks like you missed him.

Something else big happened this weekend to me, though. Something that any active WoW player fears happening. Most take a lot of precaution against it, but sometimes even all the precaution in the world isn't enough.

This weekend, my WoW account was hacked. Or to put it in non-game terms, someone acquired the password to my World of Warcraft account, logged in, and sold everything I had and took my gold and sent it to characters unknown.

There are companies out there whose entire business model is to do things in the game to earn gold and then take that gold and sell it to players for real-world cash. They do this across numerous MMO games, such as World of Warcraft, Everquest, Ultima Online, and many many others.

However, recently there has been a rash of unscrupulous companies who employ methodologies to acquire other players passwords and steal their gold to resell to others. They do this in any number of ways

1. Certain sites have scripts in them which less-secure browsers (read: Internet Explorer and an improperly protected Firefox, among others) simply allow them to run without user consent. These scripts can install trojans and keyloggers onto your system without you knowing. It's most often seen in ads. Many sites which claim to sell gold are really fronts to get these scripts installed on your system, at which point they can wait to log your password, dig it out from the logs, and steal everything you've worked hard to get.

2. Certain mod sites can hide executable files in mod packages which install keyloggers as well.

3. World of Warcraft does not have a set limit on the number of failed passwords it will accept before it stops allowing you to log in. So someone could run an automated program which attempts to "brute force" hack your account by trying every possible password combination. This is obviously incredibly tedious and rarely produces good results, but it can work.

So Saturday night, I attempt to log in to the game. I am greeted with the screen of my characters, and my Tauren Druid is naked. Not having logged him out that way, I panic and log in, to find myself without gear, and anything that could be sold was gone. I am soon kicked back off by the hacker logging back in as me to finish his work. I soon find that my password has been changed and I cannot get back in.

Quickly, I jump over to Worldofwarcraft.com, and request a password reset. Luckily, I have a security question set up. I get my new password (a long random gibberish string) and log back in to the game. The hacker no longer has a usable password, and cannot acquire the rest of my things.

The damage, however, was done. Grothi and Nihl were completely cleaned out. No armor, no items, and no gold to speak of, aside from those few that do not sell in the game. Dahkar, however, I managed to save for the most part. His armor was completely intact, but most of his other items had been sold or disenchanted for the enchanting materials. Those enchanting materials were also present, I managed to get my account back before he could sell those as well, or send them off to some other character.

Obviously, I am devastated (and incredibly furious). I immediately update every virus scanner, spyware scanner, and other cleaning implement I have installed, and run all of them. I found a spyware item that looked suspicious, but could not determine if it was a keylogger or something else. Either way, it's dead and gone now.

Luckily, if it WAS a keylogger (and not a simple brute force attack), the person either did not care about or somehow failed to acquire my bank account number and password. I changed them both to be on the safe side.

My Firefox browser is now running the "Noscript" addon, which blocks ANY form of scripting from occuring in my browser without my direct authorization. I highly encourage anyone running Firefox to install this addon immediately. It could save your bacon. Click the link below to get it
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

I have, up until this point, referred to the perpetrator of this incident, and those like him as simply "person" and at worst as "unscrupulous". That is simply my being extraordinarily full of restraint.

That ceases now.

The person or persons responsible for this reprehensible act are some of the lowest filth on the planet. This act is no less a declaration that their greed is more important to them than the very people they need as their customer base, and unfortunately they have a huge number of the player base fooled into still buying into their services. Frankly, I hope Blizzard does everything they can to make your industry no longer profitable, at least as far as WoW is concerned, and I hope you have to find some true honest work, or starve. I frankly do not care which.

I sincerely hope I never meet anyone who regularly commits such a disgusting act, for their sakes. Despicable failures of human beings, the lot of them.

Well, luckily, Blizzard has been extremely good to me. I reported the incident to one of the in-game support personnel, who quickly escalated the issue. By 3 am that morning, they had recreated or returned all of the items I had lost and sent them back to me. Within the next two days, I received back all of the gold that was stolen from me. My guildmates were extremely nice and offered a large amount of support to help me get back on my feet, or hooves, in one case. Luckily it turned out to not be necessary.

So, to the Blizzard team who responds to these cases, and gets the players back in the game, I thank you. Your customer support in this was excellent.

To all my guildmates, thank you for your well-wishes and offers. It's times like these that show why I love my guild, and the people within it.

To the person(s) who believe that they have more right to what I have in World of Warcraft, what I have worked hard to acquire, than I do: I do hope you someday realize that what you have done and continue, I'm sure, to do is utterly reprehensible, and that you're disgusted at yourself for ever having taken part in it.

For everyone else: Please take precautions to prevent these assholes from getting to you like they did to me. Stop using Internet Explorer. Get Firefox, and install the Noscript addon. Run spyware cleaners (I recommend Spybot Search and Destroy as well as Ad-Aware), virus scanners (AVG Antivirus is what I use) , and a good all in one cleaning program like CCleaner on a weekly basis. Keep a firewall program active (ZoneAlarm, COMODO, something) at all times. Secure your wireless internet, if you have it. Change your passwords on a regular basis. Be smart about your web surfing. This place is dangerous if you go to the wrong spots, and even worse if you're not protected.

Good night folks, and Happy Memorial Day.

Back in Blue!

2008-05-18T00:09:00.005-05:00

I'm not sure why, but I'm rather happy that my Saitek Eclipse II keyboard is working again. It previously had issues with sticking keys. Well today, I finally got it out, pried off several of the keys, and sprayed compressed air all through it.

I'd be embarrassed to tell you how much dust, hair, and even food pieces came out of that thing, really. I'm quite ashamed. But I got it all out (I hope), put it back together, and plugged it in, and it's working just fine. Have to get re-used to how quiet this thing is, but at least I have the Blue LED backlight again. Man this thing is pretty looking.

I was actually thinking about getting a Logitech G15, but I think I'll stick with this for now. It may not have the extra buttons the G15 does, but it looks hella awesome. Plus I'm not sure the G15 would fit where I need it anyway.

You know, I'm quite literally in the best guild in the world. I mean, how many people can say they spent their Saturday evening doing a Karazhan raid with Veronica Belmont herself? Or hung out chatting earlier in the day with Curt Schilling, his son, Randy Jordan of the Instance podcast, his wife, and a gentleman serving in the US Air Force? I can. And that's just people you might recognize. This guild is full of really awesome people, and it's been a lot of fun getting to know them and meeting various folks from around the country of different backgrounds.

Houston Vacation!

2008-05-12T16:03:00.004-05:00

Hey gang.

I'm back from my little trip up to Houston. Had a ball. I miss the Butlers so much. In fact I'm missing em right now.

We drove out to Holland's family's farm house, where we brainstormed and got some ideas for our next worship project, shot a bunch of David's WW2 replica guns (I think one of them might be authentic? I dunno, correct me if I'm wrong here, D.), and took some cool band style photos! Can't go wrong with that.

Anyway, after we got back Saturday night, we went to church the next morning, saw Iron Man (2nd time for me) and then began recording the stuff we'd put together on Friday and Saturday, mostly just to send to Peugh so he can brainstorm off of it. And no, you can't hear it, so don't ask :-P. Oh yeah, and we watched School of Rock after that. Which, by the way, is an excellent movie, and you should see it at first opportunity.

I headed back early this morning, played a bit of WoW, that sort of thing. But then I got one of the more infuriating experiences I've had to deal with in the game. More on that later.

For now, some PHOTOS!

Oh, and we also have a couple of Videos for your watching enjoyment! Don't worry, they're blanks.

This first one is an epic gun battle of Truett versus me and David. Early on, I dive down to get some cover, and off camera, get shot. Afterwards though, well...just watch.

Next up, I ambush Holland and Dave! Excitement! Thrills! Gunshots!

I just want to say thanks to Holland and Dave for putting me and Truett up for the weekend. Love you both, and I can't wait to see ya again!

Okay, so, I log in to my WoW characters, just to see if I got any mail, anything like that, and to say hi to everyone in the guild. While I'm playing my mage, however, I get a message in game from one of the Game Masters, Blizzard employees who monitor the game from within and help solve problems people have. The message is telling me that one of my characters has violated the "naming restrictions".

To let you know, my three level 70 characters, and the ones I play the most, are as follows:
Dahkar - Level 70 Troll Mage
Oldmanfranks - Level 70 Tauren Druid
Nihl - Level 70 Blood Elf Warlock

Oldmanfranks USED to have a different name. Before I moved servers, his name was Grothi. I changed it to Oldmanfranks when I moved to my new guild so that people would recognize me as the guy who does the Old Man Franks segments on Extralife Radio and occasionally the Instance.
Blizzard's naming rules are usually pretty lax, just don't name anything a swear word, or some other offensive term is about it. However, the server I'm on is an "RP server. RP is short for Role-Playing. It's a server for people who want to basically "act" like their character would act if he were real. However, most people completely ignore this and just play the game like they would play any other, and don't "act" in it.

RP Servers, however, have more stringent character naming standards. You have to name your character something that "fits" in the world. So something like "Pwnsauce" or "Technotron" or anything like that would probably not work.

I guess some idiot decided that Oldmanfranks wasn't "RP"- enough, because they reported me to the game masters, and now I've got to rename Oldmanfranks to something else. I considered renaming him something like "Oldmanfrankz" just to piss the RP weenie that reported me off, but in the end, I just went back to his original name, Grothi.

What pisses me off is that Role-playing is not enforced on the server, so why in God's name do they have to have the Double-standard of enforcing naming conventions if they aren't going to actually enforce role-playing? It makes ZERO sense to have one without the other, and that, more than anything, is what irritates me about this.

And what's really stupid is that the next thing I did after changing my Druid's name was to make a new character with the name Oldmanfranks. Again, what's the point, Blizzard? What is the freaking point? I liked that name, and because some weirdo RP kid got all upset that my name isn't "a real name you'd see if Azeroth was real", I have to deal with the consequences? That's about as epic a fail as I've seen.

Ah well...I'll catch ya'll later.

I am Titanium Alloy Man! Hrmm....just doesn't have the same ring to it.

2008-05-07T19:32:00.003-05:00

Hey again gang. Late update, I know, but there's a lot that's been goin' on.

First of all, from this past weekend, I had an absolute blast in Waco, as usual. I saw Iron Man (more on that later), played a rousing good session of D&D (and got myself two extra players in the process!), got new Star Wars comics (and the first two Outsiders TPBs which are awesome), set a new record on Justin's copy of New Super Mario Bros (specifically the "Wanted" minigame, 116 in a row, baby!), and in general had an awesome time hanging out with everyone.

I did start getting a little sick before I left, but it left me before I got home. Managed to keep my lunch down the whole drive, heh heh.

Okay, so, Iron Man. I saw it on Saturday with Chris and Justin. Holy crap was it awesome. It is becoming very evident that comic book movie caliber has gone WAY the heck up. Robert Downey Jr was, as I predicted, the PERFECT choice to play Tony Stark. He's got the look, the attitude, the charisma, and the mannerisms that make it work. With some characters, the actors chosen to play them feels more like "Wow this person does a pretty good interpretation of so-and-so." Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the X-men films is kind of like that. He's good in the role, but it doesn't quite look natural. Downey is the opposite. He's a natural Stark. You really get the sensation that he IS the man come to life, and you're watching a documentary about him or something.

The Iron Man armor special effects were absolutely amazing, very well done. Stayed very close to the classic look, while adding in some new things that we hadn't seen before, like the flare launchers, or the repulsor rays as flight stabilizers. You get several scenes of him testing out various aspects of the armor, such as the rocket boots, or the repulsor rays as weapons, all of which are very cool to see. Probably one of my favorite scenes in the film is his first actual mission in the armor, where he flies to Afghanistan and defeats a terrorist camp that was stockpiling his own company's weapons. Really shows off what all the armor can do, and at the same time, really gives you the sense of "this is the modern day, and Iron Man is in our world".
Another example of this is early on in the film, where they do kind of a montage shot with Tony Stark appearing on several magazine covers. Jon Favreau (the film director) made a point of not just using the magazines everyone knows, like "Time", he made a point of using less popular, but no less good ones like "Wired" or "Popular Mechanics". Little details like this really cement the feeling that this could very well be reality.

My only real complaint about the movie is that it could have used more action, especially during the last fight scene with the Iron Monger. The sequence in Afghanistan was great, but the Iron Monger fight seemed too short, and with far too much emphasis on brawling. I think maybe a little bit longer sequence, with both of them showcasing a little bit more of their respective weapons capabilities, would have been perfect.

Luckily, I'm going to get to see it again this Sunday, with David, Holland, and Truett.

Yeah, that's right. I'm going to see them this weekend. Takin' a 4-day trip down to Houston to hang out, and maybe make some music as well. I'm super psyched. I haven't seen them since their wedding! Plus I love making music with the Butler guys. "This is Love", on the whole, was one of my favorite experiences, and I think the resulting album turned out great.

All right, I think I'm going to end this one for now. I'll see ya'll surely.

Oh one more thing, who the CRAP is drawing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: Legacy now?? The most recent issue for both of those comics has been just UGLY compared to the initial issues.

Your Monday Stupid

2008-04-28T17:48:00.002-05:00

Wow, apparently, some people just have absolutely nothing better to do but be Internet Trolls.

I come home today and check my email and find out I have two new comments on two different entries, one from someone named "Cammy" and one from someone else named "Fry".

Both of these people commented on rather old entries, Cammy's being from January of this year, and Fry one from November of last year. Okay, so not old, but not certainly something recent.

Both of them decided to take me to task for linking to conservative news sources, Michelle Malkin's blog (which I read sporadically) and WorldNetDaily (which I don't even really read anymore, given that every other "story" is an advertisement.), and called me such lovely terms as "hypocrite'.

Seriously, do you two not have anything better to do but find blogs or other websites linking to other websites you hate and wag your little fingers at them?

Well, your rather hate-filled comments do not deserve the server space they take up, so guess what? Gone.

I do have to thank you though, Fry. WorldNetDaily is going to get taken off my links, due to their overuse of advertisements passing themselves off as news stories. The content I can get from other, less annoying sites. I know that probably won't matter to you, you just think you're getting a victory by getting a link removed because you probably have a seething hatred for conservatives. It's kind of funny and sad at the same time, but don't worry. You and Miss Cammy can both keep hating me for linking to Michelle Malkin if you want. At least until her site becomes an annoying ad infestation, which I don't forsee. Don't forget that the Drudge Report and Fox News are both over there as well! Gasp and Horror!

Okay, I'm done. See ya.

A real American hero!!

2008-04-22T23:22:00.001-05:00

Hey again folks.

Kat's wedding was this past weekend. She's now Mrs. Kathryn Morgan. I vote we all call her Cap'n Morgan now. Wedding venue had an absolute GORGEOUS view of the lake. However, there were a lot of steps leading up and down to the gazebo, I think a lot of folks had trouble with those. Actually, given that i was an usher, I know they did. But if that's the worst possible thing that you have at your wedding, you probably had a really good one, right?

Some of you may not have heard this, but they're making a GI Joe movie. A live action one. They haven't released much in the way of details yet, aside from some cast photography that's leaked out on the Internet. Which I'll conveniently link for you right here. I'll admit, I have some reservations upon seeing these photos, but that's because I'm a complete GI Joe freak from my younger days, even moreso than for Transformers. So I'll definitely be more opinionated on this one the more details we get.

Starting off, most of the cast looks like solid choices, especially Dennis Quaid as General Hawk. The only one I'm not sure of is the actress playing the Baroness. She's way way too young for the role. Baroness is supposed to be a classic beauty, well into her adult years, but still gorgeous, and very evil (complete with eastern European accent!). I don't think this lady really LOOKS like Baroness to me. And if she can't do the accent, she's gotta be replaced.

Now, the uniforms. Supposedly these are some kind of advanced battle suits with high tech features such as cloaking fields and the like. Frankly, they don't look horrible, but I'm not sure if I like them all that much. I'm just wondering why not put them in their classic uniforms that everyone would recognize, especially Scarlett and Duke. Snake Eyes uniform looks almost dead-on with his old toy/comic appearances (plus he's being played by Ray Park, aka Darth Maul, so you can't go wrong with that), i'm just wishing they'd gotten closer with the others as well. Storm Shadow...he appears to be wearing something of a cross between a white business suit and a white ninja outfit. It's very strange, but I wouldn't call it bad at this point.

I'm still eager to see what Cobra Commander and Destro look like. Hopefully, very faithful to the originals, which is Blue Hood, and Steel-coated head, respectively. And are we going to get any of the classic G.I. Joe vehicles? We'd better. If I see a Cobra H.I.S.S. Tank live on the big screen, I just might explode from geeking out.

Now, about my iPod Touch. This little bugger is extremely cool. Most of you have no doubt seen them by now, so I'll refrain from going over all the features it has. Instead I'll just quickly list off some good and bad things in my personal experience.

1. I don't know WHY it's doing this, but Apple really needs to fix this bug. Basically, my organization of songs in iTunes is not directly matching with what is in the iPod. For example, in iTunes, I have no problems organizing Five Iron Frenzy's "The End is Near" album. When I move over to Cover Flow, it shows the cover ONCE and lists all the tracks underneath it. However, in my iPod, it splits the two, and shows the album TWICE, with half the songs in each. I don't get it, but it's very annoying.

2. The on-screen touch keyboard is VERY very accurate for a touchscreen. I rarely hit a letter that I didn't mean to. I more often select the wrong artist or track when scrolling through my music, strangely enough.

3. Maybe this is just me, but I wish that when you were searching for videos on YouTube, you could turn the device on it's side so you can see the whole video title. This seems to be the only place that this doesn't work, and a lot of times you're forced to guess at what the title is. If nothing else, it should scroll back and for for video titles. Actually I'd like this for podcasts as well in the music player. Both tend to have longer titles.

4. Timing and volume sliders need to be a lot bigger, or more sensitive in their "catching" of where your finger is. It's very hard to skip to a certain area in the track, or to precisely adjust the volume, without "jumping" due to your finger not going to just the right area to "hold" it for dragging. Actually, I'd even recommend a touchscreen version of the clickwheel from the other iPod models for this purpose, that you could activate with a couple of quick finger taps. That'd work MUCH better, given that it feels familiar to previous iPod owners already.

5. I LOVE that the headphone jack isn't recessed like it is on the iPhone. That was a horrible problem, and I'm glad it's not one I have to face.

As a media player, it works absolutely great, and I'm very happy with it overalll.

I've also gotten a few new Trade paperbacks recently, the best of which has been Batman: Hush. What initially drew me to this book what that the art is done by one of my all-time favorite pencilers, Jim Lee. The work he does in here is classic representation of his style, and it's absolutely phenomenal. The plot by Jeph Loeb really hooks you in, and lets you explore Batman trying to deal with extending trust to people, especially in the arena of romantic love, all while bringing in a host of classic Batman villians (and one very new one) in a twisting scheme and a very suprise ending. I like this book a lot, and I recommend you pick up both volumes.

Aight, I'm way overdue for bed. Ya'll take care.

We really do have an awesome God

2008-04-13T15:36:00.003-05:00

Okay, so, unless you're Josh, Angie, Chris, Kelley, either of the Cazacs, or the Murrays, Joseph, or my Mom, you're not gonna get why this is cool/awesome. Just warning ya. Actually, I'm not even sure some of those people read this thing.

So, as some of you are aware, I've been kind of going through a little fear/uncertainty/depressed episode about the new job I took here at Bell, wondering if I've made a mistake, if I'm going to suddenly hate it and not stand the people I'm working under/with, should I start looking for another career, do I start looking here or in Waco, what do I do, that whole sort of mess.

So, today, this is all still pretty heavy on my mind, but luckily I didn't have to go in to work, and I was watching kitty videos on youtube, and I hear my Mom outside, mowing the yard. Obviously I feel like a jerk for not being out there, helping, so I go outside, apologize, and start helping. I take the mower into the backyard, and lo and behold, what do I discover?

A Carolina Tar Heels basketball.

God's little way of saying, "Quit worrying, I have your back, kiddo. You'll get through this."

Don't get the connection? I warned ya. But trust me, it really did help.

Anyway, I'm goin' over to a coworker's place for dinner tonight. This is the guy I used to work with on the V-22 program and our old boss is coming too. Speaking of which, that poor guy has really gotten the rotten end of the stick since coming to Bell. He got taken off the high-profile V-22 into a couple of programs that aren't exactly funded very well, and then they laid off some of the people under him, and shove him into random cubicles almost whenever they feel like it. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard he was leaving soon. He's a good guy, smart as anything, but obsessed with old movies. Oh well, no one's perfect, heh. Should be a fun evening.

Oh yeah, if you guys wanna see a pretty cool group of vids about a guy, his girl, and his kitty, look up "smpfilms" on youtube, or just go to www.smpfilms.com. Before you ask, it's completely clean. His video where he proposed to his girlfriend was so friggin' sweet...and the kitty's adorable.

Later all.

That was, and still is, Love

2008-04-07T22:17:00.003-05:00

Hey all, quick note before I go to bed.

Remember that worship album called "This is Love" that I contributed to, alongside David Butler, Truett Butler, and Robert Peugh?

Well...that may not be the end of it. That's all I'll say at this juncture. Just, be praying for me along those lines.

Oh, and if you want a copy, I'll try and procure some additional ones, so tell me ASAP, here or on Facebook.

Waco friends, if you want to listen to it, Josh Henry should have the MP3s...it's a really awesome meditative album. The kind of thing you listen to when you're deep in prayer or wanting to get to that. Listen to it if you can, I hope you like it.

People you may know, no freaking JOKE facebook!

2008-03-27T04:37:00.003-06:00

So I went ahead and tried Facebook's new feature "People you may know". It seems as though it puts a list together of people who have the same friends as you do, cause you may not realize they're on Facebook.

Well guess who has at the top of the list?

Anne Lanham.

Formerly Anne Winn.

While I suppose I should have seen it coming, it IS rather hilarious!

VIDA!...wait have I used that as a post title already?

2008-03-23T17:35:00.003-06:00

Happy Easter folks.

Quick couple of music notes, Pillar's new album "For the Love of the Game" is actually pretty good. If you were disappointed by Reckoning, and apparently a lot of people were, you'd be happy to know (or at least partially) that Game is a return to the "old" Pillar style, though some of Reckoning's influence is clear on the album. Me, I didn't hate Reckoning, but it's no Fireproof or Where Do We Go From Here, which hold some of my favorite tunes of all time on them. So far Game is shaping up well. Give it a shot if you liked Fireproof.

I first heard of Manic Drive when I saw them with Pillar a couple of years ago in Waco (with fellow lifegroup members Shauna, Raquel, and Cassaundra, plus Shauna's now-husband Scott and my former ladyfriend). They put on a very entertaining show, so I thought I'd give their first album, Reason For Motion, a new listen. I like the way it starts off a lot, but towards the end it tends to fall into more ballads than pure rock. I'd call it Reckoning syndrome, but I'm pretty sure it actually came out BEFORE The Reckoning. If you're not up for that, find "Something More" and "Nebulous" on iTunes, at the very least. Both are very good tracks. And try to catch them live at some point.

Another thing, I'm actively trying to seek out new bands to try, and I could use some help in determining where to start. You all have a general idea of my taste: Rock, alternative, metal, possibly hiphop if it's clean, and in general I prefer glorifying Christ in the lyrical content. No contemporary. I mean that. Jeremy Camp suggestions will be met with pies in the face. Anyone got any ideas? My current list of followed bands doesn't seem to have anything coming out on the near horizon, so I'm taking the opportunity to expand my own horizons. Any advice would be most useful. Appreciate it.

Again, happy Easter all. I'm out.

Conflicted

2008-03-21T19:49:00.004-06:00

Well, this is certainly strange.

When I last updated my iTunes software, I guess I didn't pay complete attention, because it downloaded and installed Apple's proprietary web browser, Safari, on my Computer.

Normally this would cause me no small amount of anger, because I hate it when software makers "bundle" products and give me stuff that I didn't ask for.

It's like when programs ask you to install the Yahoo toolbar for Internet Explorer, or some other stupid thing.

The worst one I ever saw was an old version of AIM that whenever you downloaded it, it also installed this "AIM Browser" and forced you to use it whenever you clicked a link in an instant message. There was no option to turn it off, or to have AIM use my default browser (which was Firefox at the time). Not only did I immediately uninstall it and rolled back to an older version of AIM, I immediately went on to their website and expressed my dissatisfaction with the practice on their forums and customer feedback areas.

It seems this is a similar case here, I now have Safari installed on my computer, and I didn't explicitly choose to download and install it. I guess Apple decided to be "helpful". Don't get me wrong, I am NOT okay with this practice still, but what tempers it in this case is that Safari is actually kind of a neat browser, in a clean minimalist sort of way. I've used it in the past, especially on my new iPod Touch, but never on my PC. It's kinda nifty. Maybe I'll keep this one around, rather than deleting it on principle. Then again, if I don't, will that only encourage them to keep up the practice? What's next, are they going to install iChat with the next iPod firmware update?

Hrmm...what's a geek with principles to do...

EDIT: Apparently I'm not the only one upset about this...so is the CEO of Mozilla!
http://slashdot.org/articles/08/03/22/1536250.shtml

Molly Wood agrees. If you're ever wondering if tech news is bad for you, the consumer, she's probably the one to ask.
http://twitter.com/mollywood/statuses/775471529

Webcomics, donuts, the Butlers and Juarez. Look, just read it, it'll make sense, I swear.

2008-03-14T20:47:00.005-06:00

Attention, webcomic artists/writers. Please help me out with something.

Stop doing this whole "Linking other webcomics that we think are awesome" in your own sites/blogs.

Because I almost always end up thinking they're awesome as well, and of course I have to bookmark them and keep up with them! I'm overflowing here!

First Scott Kurtz @ PvP links to Danielle Corsetto's Girls with Slingshots, which is hilarious in and of itself, but just today, I see an ad in GwS for a Japanese themed romantic comic called Red String by Gina Biggs, which has both awesome art and a really compelling storyline. And the only reason I even got into PvP in the first place was because Kurtz was a guest on Extralife Radio! Of course, I'd heard about PvP long before that, but his ELR appearance, and Lee showing me some gags from a few comics, finally got me to start reading.

So I guess we can trace the root of my problem (if you can call it that) of having a lot of webcomics to read back to Lee.

On a completely serious note, I was at TGI Friday's tonight, and after a delicious Jack Daniel's burger, was very much looking forward to those delicious Cinnadunkers they have on the desert menu. They're little cake donuts tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with icing. SO FREAKING GOOD.

Then the waitress tells me they *JUST* took them off the menu.

Why the CRAP do you restaurants ALWAYS get rid of something I love RIGHT when I happen to be in the mood for it?

They better have taken off that absolutely craptastic "Reeses Peanut Butter Pie" as well, or there is no justice in this world. Ugh, that thing was gross.

Speaking of things I love, guess who just invited me to stay with them for a weekend? Yeah, you probably read the title, so I'm guessing you know. I haven't seen David and Holland...well since their wedding. I'm excited as...uh...something that's off-the-charts exciting? I stink at metaphors.

Actually, now that I think about it, that was a simile. Oh well. I'm going to see my best friend and the love of his life. Who needs similes!

Speaking of best friends, my other ones (most of them) are heading to Juarez in the morning. Please be praying for them. I'm super psyched for the team this year, I think it's gonna be awesome for them.

Okay, that's it for me, I'm thinking a round of Call of Duty 4 is in the works for the Bmatt. Have a great weekend!

2008-03-09T21:08:00.005-06:00

Well, it's 10pm, Sunday night. I should be in bed right now. But I don't want this day to end.

I haven't ever been much of a fan of working for my current company, but I think this may be the first time that I've ever truly felt depressed about going in tomorrow. I don't know why.

Hell, this is probably my own fault for watching Season 2 of Teen Titans just before bed. Seriously, the end of that season is hella depressing. Maybe I should watch Trouble in Tokyo again, at least that ended well.

...

You know, even as I write this I feel disgusted with myself for letting a freaking job rule my emotions this way. You know what? Forget this. I'm done feeling this way.

I swore to myself I would never be a man who's life was defined by and revolved around his career. I won't. I refuse. That kills lives and marriages and friendships. And it WILL NOT be me.
This, this is just another aspect of that. So screw it. I'm going in tomorrow, giving them 8 hours, and going home, happy and content in a good day's work. Just like every other day. I refuse to be depressed because I don't enjoy my job all that much. My life is more than that. FAR more!

And you know something? Sometime this week, I'm going to revive something I did a long time ago, but let drift by the wayside.

Stay tuned.

Feel the BURN!

2008-03-04T19:30:00.002-06:00

Hey folks!

Had a great weekend in Waco. Got sunburned like crazy though. Happens when you're outside washing cars for 5 hours straight. But you know what, totally worth it. The car wash plus the garage sale made a ton of money for the team. I believe it was over $2000. No joke. I love seeing God be faithful. Just like I love seeing all those guys down there go live it out.

Hanging out with Chris and Kelley is probably the most fun thing a person can do, by the way. Those two STILL crack me up to this day. You can seriously just chill with em, help em with a household project or carry in some groceries, and you'll have the greatest time ever. I don't get it, and I don't have to. They're just awesome and that's all I need to know.

I think work is going better. I don't know yet. I still am in the process of getting trained and getting access to all of the network resources I need to do the job. Security's kinda booked up right now with the new system transition a little over a month away. I did have all day training on the internal website's content management software, seemed easy enough to get the hang of. We'll see how tomorrow goes, as always.

Oh, and, uh, I finally did it. I got an iPod Touch. If you recall I said I didn't want an iPhone, too many flaws with the first model. iPod Touch was right up my alley, but I had to wait for them to release a big enough one...well they did this last month. I now have a 32gig iPod Touch. And so far it's incredible. I mean, I can listen to music, surf the web, watch stuff on youtube, check the weather, check my email, all of it from this little device. Phenomenal. Once I get it all synched and get the chance to play around more with it, I'll give you a better review, but so far...oh man, greatness!

Okay, back to work on this thing. Catch ya'll tomorrow.

Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, the very same.

2008-03-01T07:58:00.005-06:00

Holy cow.

So, first D&D session was this weekend. I'm the DM. Josh, Julie, Megan, and Justin are the players, all level 4. Goes until 3:30 am.

Bleurgh...so tired, but so much fun.

Basically, after being hailed as heroes for clearing the town mine (their main source of income) from gigantic spiders/scorpions, the lovely town bard pulls our heroes aside and asks them to go investigate a lighthouse to the east of the town. This lighthouse was the last person her love, who is also the leader of the town militia, was known to be heading before his disappearance.

Our heroes arrive there, find the tower full of several fairly nasty undead, and finally find the missing fellow...only to be attacked by him...mostly because he's been turned into a vampire. After a quick fight, the heroes turn the tide against him, and he escapes by turning into fine mist and dispersing into the night. Smell that? Smells like recurring VILLAIN!

Anyway, everyone said they had a lot of fun, so hopefully that means I did ok.

Anyway, I'm really tired and there's a garage sale going on outside. I should probably get showered and dressed and be semi-sociable. Catch ya'll later.

You durn kids get off my virtual lawn!

2008-02-21T18:34:00.003-06:00

Howdy folks. How ya'll been.

Not much new from me. I've been training for my new temporary position most of the week. I start on it full time come Monday. Not sure how it all is gonna work out with the guy I'm replacing leaving on Tuesday. It looks like I'm gonna be doing mostly supplier readiness metrics (basically keeping track of various ways we think our suppliers are getting ready for the go-live of our new system) and possibly maintaining the website that they have to go to in order to get information about ordering from Bell, getting various documentation, that sort of thing. I'm supposed to be more trained on the latter of those two starting next week. We'll see how that's going later.

On the World of Warcraft front, I actually did something kinda different. On the server named Earthen Ring, there exists a guild which originally started as a fan guild for several of the podcasts I listen to, including Extralife Radio, The Instance, and Buzz Out Loud. When it originally formed, I decided I wanted to be there for it's inception, so I made a Troll Rogue named Bmatt, and leveled him for a bit. Well, at some point, I decided I didn't really have the time to dedicate to him, so I deleted that character and kinda watched that guild grow on the sidelines. I read their forums (since I already posted on the Extralife Radio forums, and they're on the same site), and all, but recently I decided to move my druid over there and play with em. So I did. Grothi now has a new life on Earthen Ring as "Oldmanfranks". I've got him to level 70 and am beginning the arduous process of gearing him up now.

I still check in on Mug'thol and my other two guys now and then, but I haven't seen almost anyone in my guild (including Akin and David) on in ages. I'm not sure if everyone's real life just got in the way or if they decided to try something else for a while. With Andy gone into the Army, Mug'thol feels kinda empty at the moment.

Ah well, that's all I got for now. I do wanna get to Waco next weekend (I know ya'll got Juarez training this weekend), and hopefully get our first real D&D session going. Hope ya'll are well. Bmatt is callin this one done.

Hrmmm...been a while hasn't it.

2008-02-12T22:30:00.001-06:00

I think Mom and I are ready to move, finally.

This past weekend, some dumb kids went up and down our street and two neighboring ones and shot out several people's car windows with a BB gun, including my Mom's Jeep Liberty.

Initially, when the police came, he had been on the street for ANOTHER call, our neighbor across the street had her windows broken out by her own husband, who later went down the street and busted out her mother's windows as well. We assumed (fairly I think) that he had probably been responsible as well, but since no one had seen it, we could not really prove it.

Well, the officer called us up later and told us of the arrest of two kids, two very stupid kids, who had done as I described above, and with our statements and those of four others, they planned to charge them with all of the vandalism.

All that is to say, these events are the most recent in a long string of criminal activities that really highlight just how downhill our neighborhood has gone. We're in the process of actively looking for a new place to live, someplace in Fort Worth in the relatively same area that we are now, or more to the North, closer to where we both work. We could use some prayer in finding a place that's both in relatively good condition, affordable, and in a decent area, if you're inclined to do so. And no, we are not going to move to Waco!

In work related news, well, here's where all that drama stands. Bell is in the process of implementing the SAP system (search for it on Wikipedia if you wanna know more) as part of a "Business Systems Modernization". Unfortunately, for a wide variety of reasons that I won't comment about here, the final "Go-Live", the day we would completely switch over and start using the new system, was delayed by two months.

Rewind to a few weeks back. There is supposed to be a Master Data Team being put together for this new system, the role of which is to basically maintain, update, and report on the data for the Procurement organization. The manager of that team is currently trying to recruit me for this program. My response thus far has been to the effect of "I am interested in learning more about the position" though I have been very careful to make it clear that I will not accept the position until I have enough information to make an informed career choice. I have thus far not been given it. This is the "second promotion" so to speak that many of you are familiar with and have asked me about.

In my current role, though I report to the Director of Procurement for the V-22 Program, my pay comes from the budget of the overall Procurement Organization, not the V-22 Program specifically (which pays my bosses salary). Because of this, the VP of Procurement has the authority to temporarily remove me from the V-22 Program and over to any other project under Procurement's authority. Due to the delay of our Go-Live date, we lost the budget for a number of contractors who were working for Bell on reporting the project's progress on various fronts. The Procurement VP has directed several people in his organization to go and work on this until Go-Live. As you might guess, I was one of them.

I begin this new temporary assignment two weeks from yesterday. In that timeframe I have to learn the functions and duties of the gentleman I am replacing and transition my current duties temporarily to my cohort, Jeff.

There are two possible outcomes for this assignment that I can see. Either I return to my current duties for the V-22 Program a couple of weeks after Go-Live occurs, or shortly before or on Go-Live, I begin my new position on the Master Data Team. Currently this is up in the air, pending my acceptance or refusal of the latter position.

Confused yet? You weren't the only one. It was not made clear to me (due in part to my not asking questions) that this temporary assignment was seperate from the role I would take as the Master Data Team. Needless to say I was not happy to being given assignments for a position I had not accepted AND that did not relate to what I had been told the position would entail. I managed to get a hold of the manager of the Master Data Team who answered my questions and made the distinction more clear to me.

So needless to say, a lot of things are up in the air right now. I don't know what working for the SAP team in this new reporting function will be like, but I have met the man I'm replacing and the people he works with, and they understand that I will be learning over the next two weeks and may need some help until I am up to speed. What I am more unsure of is what follows this temporary assignment. The Master Data Team does seem like a good stepping point to me in terms of my long term career, but many of my questions about the team have not been answered, and without these answers, I cannot in good conscience make this transition. Every day these questions go unanswered is a day the job appeals to me less and less. I'm simply not sure what will happen next.

Anyway enough of work. Andy Nance is off to the Army. I hope you'll join me in praying for Him, both for safety and to be used by God. As for me, catch ya'll next time, I reckon.

Wolverine and The X-Men

2008-02-05T21:41:00.000-06:00

Hrmm, another new X-Men cartoon, but this one from a very different perspective. The telepaths (Professor X and Jean Grey) have all vanished, the X-Men disband, and Wolverine has to put the team back together while keeping them on the run from what looks to be a very agressive new round of anti-mutant sanctions.

The animation style looks nearly-exactly like X-Men: Evolution, though the voice cast looks to be completely different, which isn't bad. No idea if this is supposed to be a follow-on series to X-Men: Evolution, either. I highly doubt it's the same universe/timeline, though.

I'm really not keen on the idea of hem turning Cyclops all emo/depressed (one the stupidest things X-Men: The Last Stand ever did) or the idea of making Rogue evil. Unfortunately, like many have said, Cyke HAS to be all depressed and unwilling to fight for Wolvie to have any reason to be the leader, and thus the focal point of the show. I suppose we'll see how it goes. Might be good. Probably would be an excellent DVD to own, especially if they make it an ongoing serial storyline like it appears to be.

On the other hand, the Iron Man movie trailer, which hopefully you saw during the Super Bowl, looks freaking FANTASTIC. Can't wait for that film.

Ain't seen it yet? Go here!

Superbowl Aftermath.

2008-02-03T21:14:00.000-06:00

I'll admit I put everything on the Patriots to win it. I didn't think the Giants stood a chance.

Then Brady's offensive line went out there, and fell apart like a house of cards in front of the Giants Defense.

Giants deserve every bit of glory they get from this. Every bit.

I really wanted to see the perfect season happen, I'll admit. But they didn't go out there and play like they deserved it at all.

Good on you Eli. Good on you.

The Culture of Ownership

2008-01-28T19:25:00.000-06:00

For anybody who has followed technology and patent law, this blog's opening post provides a great read, and a promising future. I suggest you read it. Click here to do so.

And as for me, well, I went to Waco this weekend and started a D&D campaign. I played some Russian Tag, and some other board games. I also found out several of my friends I recently met down there play WoW (or did and might start up again). So I'd darn well say I had a good weekend.

Andy Nance is going into the Army come 2/12/08. Be in prayer for him. If you know him, and haven't seen the email he sent out detailing all this, let me know and I will forward it on to you.

And just because it's been too long since I've done this...here's a picture from Icanhascheezburger.com

2008-01-22T21:16:00.000-06:00

Holy crap.

Heath Ledger is dead.

He just got done filming the new Batman film, The Dark Knight, in which he plays the Joker opposite Christian Bale as the Bat. Apparently he was having trouble sleeping during filming, due to the fact that he was portraying the joker as an insane psychotic mass murderer, far more dark than Jack Nicholson's original interpretation.

Wow. They say it doesn't look like suicide, though. No word on how he died.

This is just so sudden.

I hate politics

2008-01-20T11:50:00.000-06:00

I'm tired, already, of US politics. Completely and disgustedly tired. And we're not even midway, or even a 1/4th of the way, through the primaries.

Every year it just gets more divisive, more slimy, and more envenomed. People dig and snipe and sneer at each other over this person's position, or this person's lack of political experience, or this person's disregard/alienation over that part of their voter base. In trying to research the various candidates, this is all I find. Insults of other's intelligence. Accusations that others are not "true conservatives" because of fiscal reasons or flip flopping with regards to their candidate. (I imagine the same is true on the liberal side, but I haven't looked).

It's enough to make a person want to vomit. There are very few greater illustrations of just how badly sin has affected this nation than this mess.

And the worst part of it, is that I fear this is only the beginning. Once the final 2 candidates are nominated, it's just going to get worse. Because then those who support candidates who have lost will start sitting out and protest.

And once we actually elect someone, then we're in even bigger trouble. We may start to unify along some semblance of ideological lines, but the rhetoric and insults we sling back and forth will be even more vitriolic.

I long for the day when Jesus comes and we can all truly agree that nothing else matters more than Him, and that nothing else really ever did.

Making your display look however you want.

2008-01-18T23:38:00.000-06:00

Okay, this post is gear towards anyone who uses more than 1 monitor for their computer. And if you don't, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Windows XP will not natively support having a single wallpaper stretch across both monitors, OR having a DIFFERENT wallpaper on each monitor.

Your video card drivers may allow this. My nVidia's drivers only partially do, they'll let you use two different backgrounds, but not a single one stretched across both, and they only allow .jpg or .bmp files. A lot of my wallpapers are in .gif or .png format.

If you would LIKE this feature, I highly recommend this app: DisplayFusion. Easy as pie to use. Find a wallpaper (or two) you like, save it to your computer somewhere, and open up this little software. Very intuitive to use, works very well.

Just be sure you put the file where you want it before you set it up. If you move it after setting it as your background, you'll have to set it again.

I like big portable computers and I cannot lie

2008-01-17T04:46:00.000-06:00

Macbook Air, eh?

I honestly would be scared to own one of these. Like...I'd drop it ONCE and it'd break in half.

I don't get the obsession with thin laptops.

Now a Macbook Pro or an iPod Touch? Now we're talkin'.

Still a bit disappointed no new 16gig model iPhone or even one with 3G. Oh well, maybe later this year.

Oh, in case you're wondering WTF I'm talking about, Apple's Macworld Expo was a couple of days ago. Go read CNET or your tech blog of choice to find out more.

Surely he can't LIKE having his readers hate him, right?

2008-01-13T09:26:00.001-06:00

I think Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Joe Quesada has a secret superpower.

I think he has the power to make people want to STOP reading the comics he works on.

I can't think of another possible reason for this recent storyline in Amazing Spider-Man in which the past 20 years (in real world time) of Spider-Man's life has been rewritten and everything we know to have happened to the web-slinger is no longer true. Including his marriage, or even relationship, with Mary Jane Watson.

I mean, I know Quesada has always hated the idea of pairing the two, he's said as much on repeated occasions, and that the only reason Spidey and MJ ever ended up together is overwhelming fan support for the duo.

But I guess he doesn't care so much. Because to go along with the recent "relaunch" of the Amazing Spider-Man series, they've undone all the character development, all the storylines, everything, that has occured over the past 20 years worth of comics. And in this end result, MJ and Spidey's relationship is described as "frosty".

Sort of like how I feel about Quesada's intelligence at this point.

A little bit of in character writing based on the events of Half-Life 2: Episode 2

2008-01-11T21:43:00.000-06:00

Attention, all members of the so-called Universal Union, or as we know you, the Combine.

I have had enough.

10 years ago, I was nothing more than a research associate at a top-secret facility, Black Mesa. I believe you know the name. I reported to work one fateful day, and my life has not been my own since.

It seemed a normal enough day. Being a simple associate, it was part of my duty to do the "grunt work", which on that day, meant pushing a crystalline specimen into an anti-mass spectrometer, so that tests could be run on it.

Well, I'm sure you know what happened from there. Beings from another dimensional world invaded Black Mesa, forcing me to adapt, to survive. I killed more living creatures that day than I could hope to remember. My own government sent in soldiers to kill me, but I survived. I had to kill so many of them...to this day it makes me sick to think about it. I invaded the dimension, known as Xen, the "border world", where these creatures came from, and I killed their leader. The Nihilanth, as I later learned it was called. And our mutual enemy, as I also later learned.

Despite all of this, I never really escaped from Black Mesa. Not on my own.

Because, you see, someone, and I'm beginning to think someTHING might be a more appropriate term, saved me. Pulled me out of there, into a place I still do not understand. This man offered me "employment". I don't know with whom, but I also did not have a real choice. It was accept his offer, or die. Well, I did what I had done this whole day. I survived.

The next thing I know, I'm seeing this man's face again, asking me to wake up. I wake up 10 years later, and find a world I do not know.

I manage to, despite your efforts, make contact with my friends. I eventually learn what has happened since I've been "missing". The portal storms ripping through Earth. You invaded us. The Seven Hour War. We surrender, you move in and begin to transform our world and our race in your own image. I doubt I need to recount this for you.

Dr. Breen, my old administrator, no doubt made you aware of my reappearance, and what sort of threat I might pose to you. So you tired to send your soldiers to kill me, while I simply tried to get away. Get to my friends. Find out more of what the hell was going on.

You failed. I made it all the way to what was Black Mesa East, home of my old colleague, Eli Vance, and you couldn't kill me. You invaded Black Mesa East, captured Eli, but you missed me. I invaded your butcher's house, Nova Prospekt. Surely you remember that place, yes? You tore apart human beings who resisted you, and turned them into walking horrors. Well, you used to, rather. Because thanks to myself and my dear friend, Eli's daughter, Alyx, Nova Prospekt is now a smoldering crater. And with that little act of vandalism, the uprising against you began.

You should have realized after we took your Overwatch Nexus that you couldn't kill me. After I brought down four of your three-legged walking death machines, the Striders. After I tore through your precious citadel. Even when your puppet, Dr. Breen, couldn't hold me, you should have realized you could not stop me.

After we destroyed your tunneling device in the Citadel, yes you remember that, I presume? It was, after all, the event that precipitated the destruction of the blasted thing, this man, appears out of nowhere again, to take control of my life, away from the people I care about, again.

But this time, he fails.

I presume you are aware of the Vortigaunts by this point. Once slaves to the Nihilanth, now free, and fighting by our side. They know much, an understanding of the universe that I pray, when this is over, I can sit down with them and do what I, as a scientist, do best. Learn. That's the truth, by the way. I'm just a scientist. I'm no soldier. Just a man forced to be something by circumstances. That's what you have not been able to kill. Just an ordinary man. Think of what the rest of us can do with that. I hope it gives you pause.

The Vortigaunts save me, somehow. I don't understand it, obviously. I don't understand what this man or thing is that they have saved me from. But do you know what I did next?

I went back into your precious citadel and stopped it from blowing up. Well, delayed it really. Long enough to get more of the resistance out of the City. And long enough for me and Alyx to steal some precious data from you. Data you could only send back to wherever the hell it is you came from by blowing your now-doomed citadel.

You couldn't have that, could you. You tried so hard to kill us. But at every turn, you failed. We evaded you. Killed everything you sent after us. Got out of the city before your citadel blew and irradiated the whole place. We made it all the way throughout the countryside, evading you, escaping every trap you set us in.

Your little Hunters were almost successful in killing Alyx. But our Vortigaunt friends saved her. And all you ended up doing, in the end, was making her stronger for it.

Did it hurt your pride, when we made it to the White Forest rocket base? When we used the very data we stole from you to launch a rocket into space and close the superportal you tried to open by blowing the Citadel? Did it cause you despair when your virtual battalion of Striders and Hunters couldn't destroy the base and prevent that launch, because the Resistance, led by me, wiped every one of them out?

It must have, because your Advisors invaded us after that. And you killed Eli Vance, right in front me and his own daughter. You almost killed me, but you seem to not be very adept at that.

So now, here we are. You're cut off, stuck here on Earth, and wherever it is you come from can't help you for the time being. I'm here, at White Forest, comforting my closest friend, my partner, and a woman I am falling in love with, because her father was brutally killed in front of her, by you. That'd be enough for any other man to send you this message. But there's more than that.

You see, I haven't forgotten whoever pulled me out of Xen. The one who tried to pull me out of the Citadel, had not the Vortigaunts saved me from him. I almost thought I was free of him, until he very recently reminded me he was still there. He gave a message to Alyx to give to Eli, subconsciously of course. I was there when she did it. She didn't even know what she was doing. But Eli, he knew.

He talked to me after it happened. He KNEW who this man was. Finally, I was going to find out what had happened to my life. Who or what this thing was.

We didn't have time to talk about it then, we had a rocket to launch, and your superportal to close. Which, if you forgot, we succeeded in doing.

But now, I will never have that chance. The one man who could unravel the mystery of everything that happened to me, you killed. My friend, my mentor, and possibly my savior.

So now that you have heard all this, I hope you understand the gravity of what you have done.

My fellow humans call me "The One Free Man, the Opener of the Way". But I am anything but. I might have been, if not for you.

I have had enough. Too long my life has been meddled with by this outside force. Too long you parasites have fed upon my planet and warped my people. Too long has this veil been over my eyes. It ends now.

My name is Dr. Gordon Freeman.

Before my life is ended, I will see to it that every last Combine soldier on Earth is dead. Every combine machine, destroyed. Every one of your biotechnologial monsters, dead. And most especially of all, every one of your vile Advisors will pay for Eli's life with their own.

The time of the Combine ends now. This is your only warning.

I am coming.

//end transmission

Spawn more Bookshelf space!

2008-01-06T00:52:00.000-06:00

My old bookshelf had only 3 shelves in it. It was satisfactory for a while (got it my last semester of college) but after some time, it got way overcrowded. Books and movies stacked in front of each other...it was just a bit ridiculous

Well Mom and I were in Big Lots today and I spotted a 5-shelf model. Nice and tall, 2 more whole shelves to organize stuff just the way I like. And it was only $25.

So I get it home, put it together, take out all my books, put em on the shelf, get everything nice an organized.

Well now there's no books or DVDs in front of each other...but it's still completely full. So if I don't buy any more books, I'm all set. Yeah, like that's going to happen.

Oh well, looks sweet anyway!

Screenshot + Exposition!

2008-01-05T00:30:00.001-06:00

Here's a quick screenshot of how my warlock looks right now.

Pretty sweet eh? Notice how the robe, shoulders, belt, and helm all seem to go together?

Back before the first expansion came out, you could work towards getting "sets" of gear in all the raids. They would have statistics that were optimal for your class, and the more pieces of the set you had, you got bonus stats for them. Each raid had a "set" for every class. The first raid, Molten Core, dropped what was called the "Tier 1" sets, because it was the first raid most guilds worked to complete and get gear from.

The next raid you were supposed to do was called Blackwing Lair, and it dropped the "Tier 2" sets. When these sets were initially released, they had some fairly bad graphics. A few patches later, Blizzard redid the graphic art for them, and they became extremely iconic representations for the their associated classes, so much so, that when Blizzard made the expansion, they brought them back, sort of.

You see, when you're leveling your character and trying to get optimum gear before you should start raiding, you can find pieces of gear that are graphically almost identical to the items in all the Tier 2 sets, with just different colors.

The Warlock Tier 2 set was called the Nemesis Raiment, and the helm, belt, shoulders, and robe Nihilus wears here are reused graphics of that set, the difference being the Red/Orange/Black coloration. The original Nemesis Raiment was purple and green, you can view the image here for a comparison.

Yeah that may have been too much information for a lot of you, but I thought it was a cool little throwback to the old raids.

8944. Seriously.

2008-01-02T17:44:00.000-06:00

Day 2 of 2008. Day 1 back at work. Day 8944 in the life of the Bmatt.

As you can imagine, after being off for around 2 weeks, I had a bit of catching up to do. But thankfully we set up some automated tools to keep track of stuff over the shutdown, so they helped a lot. Still, all sorts of great problems arose that we now have to take care of. Hopefully they won't affect the schedule too badly, although I'm not sure how they COULDN'T. Sigh. Ah well.

Yes I realize that paragraph is extremely vague. I'm not sure how much detail I should go into, from a legal standpoint, so I choose to err on the side of caution.

So, yeah, I have to give some serious love out to Chris and Kelley Stone. Because they very graciously let me stay in their home for two nights and hosted a New Year's party there as well. Kelley even made me tacos. And they were yummy. Thanks, you guys. I really appreciate it, a lot.

Josh, being awesome, got me the three Star Wars books, including Fury, from the Legacy of the Force series. So far, I have mixed feelings about the series in general. I'm not really sure they've made a very clear cut distinction in why Jacen Solo has become a Sith Lord. I read the later books and I find my mind reeling, wondering "How again did Jacen get to this point?" Perhaps I just need to reread the earlier books to get a feel for it again. I still just have a hard time reconciling the earlier portrayals of him with the cruel Lord of the Sith he's become. I suppose that's what makes him such a memorable villain.

Still, with two of my favorite characters now dead (Anakin Solo and Mara Jade Skywalker), the best newly developed romance seemingly completely shot (Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel), and the fact that no one can seem to stop Troy Denning from writing more Star Wars books, the last two in this Legacy of the Force series had better end very very well, or I may stop reading Star Wars novels set in the future beyond this series chronologically altogether. I got a little jaded by New Jedi Order (though it ended well), was completely disgusted with the Swarm War trilogy (absolutely pathetic follow up to everything that happened at the end of NJO, Troy Denning owes us all an apology for those abominations), and am waiting for something really really good to happen in Legacy, still, and it's only got 2 more books to do it in. I seriously need to see Jaina and Jag finally realize they do love each other and are meant to be (which is what was supposed to happen post NJO, but Denning is an idiot), Ben Skywalker step up and show that he is worthy of carrying on the Skywalker name, and Jacen to fall from power in a truly spectacular way, either getting killed by Ben, or by being ultimately redeemed, or both, like his grandfather.

I'll be disappointed with anything less than that, I really will. And the sat part is, Denning is doing the finale, so it's almost impossible for me to have any sort of high hopes about it. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. I seriously hope so.

Anyway, that's all from me for today. I'll catch ya'll later, time to take the Christmas tree down (sigh)

Bleh.

2008-01-02T06:18:00.000-06:00

Waking up at 4:45am and not being able to sleep again: Bleh.

Realizing your phone, which also serves as your alarm clock, turned itself off last night for some stupid reason, thus making it a good thing you woke up and couldn't go back to sleep: More bleh.

It's Orange, it's Boxy.

2007-12-30T10:37:00.001-06:00

I now am in possession of The Orange Box. For those not inclined towards videogaming, The Orange Box is a compilation of 5 games: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. And all five of them are absolutely spectacular works.

Half-Life 2 is what it says, the second chapter in the Half-Life story. It also uses a revolutionary graphics and in-game physics engine that has set the standard for every First-person shooter to follow it. All of these games use that engine to some extent.

Half-Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2 should really be numbered as Half-Life 3. They're direct sequels that continue Half-Life 2's story. Valve releases them in short episodes to shorten development time (of which they are notorious for having extremely long of).

Team Fortress 2 is a class-based multiplayer FPS. By "class-based" I mean that when you jump into a game, you pick from one of 9 classes, such as Soldier, Scout, Spy, Medic, etc, and you have different weapons and abilities based on that choice. And you can change whenever you feel like. It's basically a big chaotic game with everyone trying to survive and accomplish the mission (which usually involves capturing control points) but it's still a lot of fun. So far, my class of choice seems to be the engineer. I love building sentry guns.

Portal...Portal is very very different. It's not even really a shooter. It's a first person puzzle game. Your only weapon is a gun that, when you fire it, places a blue portal opening on a flat surface. Use the alt fire, and it places a yellow one. Now by walking through either of these portals, you instantly come out the other end. Same goes for any objects. Sounds easy right? Well, now try to imagine what happens if you put one portal on the floor and the other on the wall, and fall through it. You'll come out of the wall with the same momentum you got from falling through the first portal. Basically the game consists of you using this gun to get around obstacles, move items where they need to go, avoid hazards, and the like. But there's a very very startling and compelling storyline around it all that can leave you uneasy and on your toes. It's a great great game, albeit a little short. There's plenty of timed challenges outside of the main story for you to play with after, though.

So basically, you get all 5 of those games for dirt cheap, like a total of $50. That's an insanely good deal.

I also got a new long sleeve shirt and a sample set of colognes.

Well, as you can probably guess, with Call of Duty 4, The Orange Box, and my warlock in World of Warcraft going so well, I've been gaming a lot this holiday. And I haven't been disappointed by one of them! This is going to make it hard to finish BioShock before the end of next month though, but I've just got to knuckle down and do it!

But not this weekend. In a few short hours I'll be heading down to Waco to celebrate the new year with Chris and Kelley plus whoever else is down there (and who that might be, I don't know!)

See ya'll in 2008!

Best Internet running gag ever.

2007-12-26T11:57:00.001-06:00

You know, I may vote for Huckabee just for doing this. This is absolutely hilarious.

Froliche Weinachten!

2007-12-24T22:11:00.000-06:00

That means Merry Christmas in German, in case you were wondering.

Hey all, I know it's been a whiles, but I've been on Christmas holiday since last Thursday, enjoying time off, doing last minute Christmas shopping, and catching up on my movies and reading and gaming.

Tonight we went to one of my cousin's house for the big family get together. It's always fun to see everyone again, even if it is only a month later. Thanksgiving is always a big all day affair thing with us, mostly due to the Cowboys game. Christmas Eve is generally more subdued, but we did play a Christmas-themed Bingo game, with the winners picking from a variety of presents on a "prize table". I was quite happy, I ended up with something I almost always get in my stocking, one of those Lifesavers "Sweet Storybooks" that has a bunch of different rolls in them. Mom couldn't find one this year, but luckily someone else did, and I got it!

Speaking of Mom, she got me two Star Wars books ("Death Star" and "Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force"), Call of Duty 4: Limited Collector's Edition(Sweet awesome game!) and two pairs of Jeans (which I needed!). I got her some new curtains for the living room and the new Nicholas Sparks book, the name of which is escaping me at the moment.

Tomorrow is just the immediately family down at Nan's house. No idea what we're gonna do, other that have Christmas lunch! Guess we'll find out tomorrow.

I'm usually not one for New Year's resolutions, especially the typical ones like "Stop smoking" or "lose weight", but I do have some personal goals that I'd like to have done this year:

1. Be better about updating this thing, especially with reviews about games I'm playing or cool stuff I found.
2. Purchase a domain name for this blog. I'm thinking either www.conflagration.com or maybe www.thebmatt.com.
3. Finish Bioshock before February 1st.
4. Hang out with my friends more often.
5. Actually go swimming at some point this summer. Believe it or not, not one time did I swim at all in 2007's summer. I kid you not.

So yeah, small stuff really, but it's what I'd like to do.

Anyway, hope ya'll are having a Merry Christmas and will have a great New Year. I have no idea what I'm doing for that one either! Love ya'll

Schrodinger's Brandon may or may not be in the box

2007-12-16T19:32:00.000-06:00

You know, I read a lot of webcomics. I like them better than print comics. They often have better art, better storylines, or say what you're always wanting to say but can't because of editorial censorship. Yeah that's right, Mr. Erstman, I'm talking to you.

But I think I hit an important milestone today.

xkcd is the first webcomic with more than one comic that I've wanted to print out and place on my cubicle wall at work. Actually, I think I could say that about the majority of them.

Geeky humor + romance = win.

In other news, my Christmas shopping is almost done. I only have one more person to buy for, and one more gift to get for my Mom. I like that feeling.

I shall be taking Thursday and Friday of this week off. I really should take more, because that's one more day where I won't feel totally useless because nearly everyone else is already off. But alas, two days shall work. Then I have the whole next week off. Yay!

There's a couple of you folks in Waco that I DO have presents for. You know who you are. If not, here's a hint. If I've been in your wedding recently (def: the past semester), I have something for you. Please call me and let me know if I can visit you at any point in the above mentioned vacation time to give you said presents or if I should wait til after you all come back. Also, I love you guys. Merry Christmas either way.

Attention: Tony Romo. I know this is coming from a fairly fickle football follower (holy CRAP alliteration!!), but seriously man, what the crap happened? Also, I still don't get what you see in her, and I really hope to God you're looking beyond the surface.

Mom should be home with our dinner now, so I should depart. That chicken ain't gonna eat itself.
Or will it?

I shall never know. Hunger, once again, has overriden curiousity.

Night ya'll!

Edit: Discovered this after I posted the entry, too cute not to show

Golden Compass apparently lost it's way

2007-12-11T06:36:00.000-06:00

You know, even with all the controversy surrounding the author and his anti-Catholic/religious/what-have-you beliefs, I still on some level thought I might see the Golden Compass. Just to see if it really WAS as negative about Christianity as everyone seems to think. (Not about to get the book though, too many other things I'd rather read that I haven't yet.)

However, I don't think I'll be doing that either. Since it apparently is terrible

Just wondering what you guys thought of the film, or the book if you've read it. Comment away!

The Stones...or perhaps Stoneage....Stone Age?

2007-12-06T20:15:00.000-06:00

Christopher and Kelley Stone.

Awwwwwww.

So we got the guy all good and married. It was a fun weekend.

I show up on Friday night, we're all gonna go out and have some wings, then go do something else fun. Well, we end up deciding we'll go do Capture the Flag on campus, but we don't have enough people to make it good, so we decide to play Sardines in Draper instead.

As most of you have probably heard by now, that didn't exactly end well for us. Somebody, and I suspect it was the cleaning crew, called DPS on us.

Let me backtrack. I found Chris (our initial hider) before the last few people did, and somebody decided they didn't all want to hide, we should all move around as a group. Which, I should point out, is against the rules of Sardines, last I checked. But, everyone ran off, and Josh and I got seperated from the group because we ran into the guys who hadn't found Chris yet. So we walk around with them for a while, both Josh and I are mad because neither of us like this idea, and at some point I slipped away, and ran off to look for the group. All of the sudden a DPS officer comes around the corner and orders me to sit down. Tony's there, he's already been caught. She starts questioning us about what we're doing there, and all this mess. Some more DPS officers come out of the elevator, apparently they haven't found them either. Finally, she asks me to call the others on my phone and get em over here, which I did, though I honestly should have told them to just leave.

Basically they run our names and all to make sure none of us are wanted or anything, then they proceed to tell us that we could be charged with criminal trespassing for being inside a building that is supposed to be closed. But they're not, they're just going to let us go. So all's well, right?

Uh, no. Not at all. For one thing, the doors were not locked. You can't charge us for trespassing on a college campus when the doors aren't locked. Secondly, there are no posted hours anywhere on that building, last I checked. I've been in that building late on a Friday night before, and no one had a problem with it then. Thirdly, there were OTHER STUDENTS in that building and none of them were asked to leave.

So basically, they blew a lot of smoke at us, but no fire. We didn't break in, we didn't damage anything in the building, and you got nothing. Quit wasting your time and go actually catch some bike thieves for once.

Anyway, now that I have that rant out of my system...the wedding was beautiful. Earle-Harrison House in Waco is truely a lovely spot. The gazebo where they had the ceremony was swarming with ladybugs, hilariously enough. They were crawling all over the groomsmen and bridesmaids, but it still went great. And Kelley, I take back every bad thing I said about those brown tuxes. Those were pretty pimp, I gotta admit.

Wishing them both the best, as always.

I would like to say thanks to Rudyard's parents who hosted a bonfire/cookout for us on Saturday night. Had an absolute ball hanging out there with everyone, ridin' through a dark field in Rudyard's truck, sittin around a giant fire, watching a magnesium battery burn in said fire, and eatin' chicken. What else could ya need?

In more nerdy news, it seems Justin is wanting to organize a D&D game that meets something like once a month, and we've gotten several people interested in playing, among them Lee, Josh, and Jule Bradford. Plus me, of course. This is looking like a fun opportunity to get back in to the game. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the one doing the DM-ing. I'm excited about that, I've never done it regularly before, and I think it'll be fun putting together little mini-adventures for everyone to go on. I've even got some ideas brewin' in the ol' noggin.

I did not realize this, but Josh has an incredible collection of classic point-and-click adventure games from Sierra and Lucasarts. I found this out for the first time this weekend. He even gave me all the files I'd need to run some of them, including Maniac Mansion and Sam and Max Hit The Road. I have an old CD-ROM copy of Sam and Max, but I could never get it to run on XP. That is, until I discovered a nifty app called ScummVM. SCUMM is the old utility that Lucasarts made Maniac Mansion with (it actually stands for Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) and further versions of it were used to make sucessive point and click games, like Monkey Island, Loom, or the aformentioned Sam and Max. ScummVM basically creates an environment within XP in which these games can be run perfectly (VM = Virtual Machine). I played through Sam and Max again for the past couple of days, and man it's so much fun, and still hilarious. If you have any of these old games, or were a fan and might like to play them again, go download ScummVM and see what it's compatible with. You can probably find a lot of the old games online as freeware, or talk to Josh about getting some of them.

Well I think that's it for me. Talk to ya'll later, and Merry Christmas!

Tis the Season to shred some hot Christmas tunes!

2007-11-27T22:26:00.000-06:00

Well, I see I completely slacked off and forgot to do an update during my Thanksgiving break. Oops. Sorry about that. I'm going to try and get better about doing these more often.

Thanksgiving? Delightful. Good food, we got some snow, and the Cowboys won. What else could you ask for?

Time to start looking forward to Christmas! Which, as you all know, is absolutely one of my favorite times of year. Sunday evening, mom and I put the tree up, Trans-Siberian Orchestra in the background. Now, I love Christmas music already. But TSO....they just do it RIGHT. You CANNOT beat their arrangement of O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night. You just can't. To this day, I maintain that it is the best rendition of those two carols I have ever heard. Period. I do not care WHAT you say, an incredible guitar solo is the ONLY way to perform that song!

But there's something more immediate to look forward to, specifically, this-weekend-immediate. For this Sunday, the last of my three best friends puts a gun to the head of their bachelorhood and happily pulls the trigger. Chris. Kelley. Married.

Man I can't believe it's already here. But you can bet I'll be down this weekend for it. You know, since I'm a groomsman and all. Plus we have a Bachelor Party to do and all. Mwahaha.

In other news, Mark Cuban doesn't get it! Go figure.

Mark Cuban believes he has the answer to all of the world's bandwidth problems: Block all P2P traffic, which mostly comes in the form of BitTorrent. Cuban wants the fastest possible internet and according to him, P2P "Freeloaders" are the worst cause, because they, the content distributors, "want to distribute it on someone else's bandwidth dime". Also according to Cuban, the best alternative for P2P video (and strangely enough, also audio, he claims) is Google Video. Quoting, "If you are trying to do distribution of audio or video, why in the world would you use P2P when Google Video will host and distribute it very efficiently and for free?"

Well, lets start with the fact that you can't really get AUDIO off of a Video hosting service. Let's move on to the fact that there are plenty of things you can't get on Google Video that P2P excels at distributing, the most notable being ISOs of your various flavors of Linux. Then there's the fact that for the end user, a torrent, which builds the end file or files from hundreds of users who have provided the file to have bits pulled from it, is almost ALWAYS faster in the end than a download from one single server.

But the final, most hilarious thing, that completely proves that Cuban DOES NOT get it, is this. It doesn't matter what the content is. You can have one single video. Lets say you get it via BitTorrent. Then let's say you get it via Google Video. Lets say you do both twenty times. Guess what? The end amount of bits of data that flew over the internet IS THE SAME either way. Downloading it from one single location doesn't magically make the file any smaller, and thus take up less bandwidth, Mark. Go take a network architecture class, please.

All right, I'm going off my geek rant for the day. Ya'll take care.

Rants aplenty.

2007-11-20T16:47:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love media bias? No? That's okay, I was being sarcastic. I hate it. It's completely idiotic, and what's worse, there are a lot of people who believe it with no real thought to challenge it.

Take the so called assumption that video games are inherently linked to violence. You've all heard that one, no doubt. There's been plenty of studies that supposedly link the two, and others that say there is no connection. So why the significant difference?

Dr. Christopher Ferguson has a theory, one he published in Psychiatric Quarterly (which I found out via Ars Technica here), that suggests a combination of nonstandard experimentation, and, yes you guessed it, publication bias is responsible.

Publication bias, for the record, is the tendency of researchers and journals to only publish positive results in experimentation.

Take a look at the article for yourself to see his meta-analysis of the research on the topic. He basically eliminated all studies that did not show or measure actual aggressive behavior (leaving only 17 published studies) and of all of those, not ONE did not show a severe publication bias.

So basically, there does not exist a single study linking violent games and actual violent behavior that is scientifically sound. I love it.

I'll say it again people. Games only trigger violent behavior in people who were ALREADY PREDISPOSED TO IT anyway. Know your children. Know what they're playing (and play with them). Teach them the difference between gaming and reality. Take some responsibility. STOP SHIFTING BLAME.

In other news, the RIAA and MPAA have successfully lobbied House Democrats to incorporate a provision into the College Opportunity and Affordability Act that FORCES colleges to provide legal paying alternatives to P2P filesharing, or else they would lose ALL FEDERAL FUNDING. No grants or financial aid if you don't give your students Napster or some equivalent (source).

First of all, since when is it the responsibility of the Federal Government to protect an industry's failing business model? Secondly, is anyone else worried that universities are going to turn around and apply this cost to the student's already way-to-freaking-high college costs? "Opportunity and Affordability" indeed. The House Education and Labor Committee aides SAY that these penalties are myths, but the Bill's language proper indicates otherwise. Would our favorite little media mafia empires support it so heavily otherwise? I doubt it, personally. The bill also provides for "voluntary grants" for schools, in partnership with outside organizations, to develop effective and reasonably priced anti-piracy tools. Given the MPAA and RIAA's track record, I suspect these so called tools will be used to augment their lawsuit sprees against so called "pirates". Whatever happened to reasonable expectations of privacy?

Call your House represenative, and get this killed before it ever makes it out of the House. Please. The MPAA and RIAA are out of control with their lawsuits and lobbying to protect their failing content business model and need to be stopped.

Moving on from my political discourses, but not too far away from music, I have to tell you about a new CD I just picked up that is utterly phenomenal from one of my favorite bands of all time. The band in question? Demon Hunter. They're a recent favorite, yes, but I absolutely love their work.

Their new CD is called "Storm the Gates of Hell". The title alone should tell you volumes about what to expect. There's a theme that seems to run across this album, the best way I can think of to describe it is "Live what you believe if you claim to believe in and follow God". This is not a light album, at all. It aims deep, right to the core. It will make you ask questions about your life, and you may feel some serious conviction as a result. Just a warning, you may have to be prepared to deal with that. I encourage it, because it can only lead to freedom and a better life for ya.

Fortuantely, the album is a continuously enjoyable metal experience as well. It's hard for me to say if this is album is any better than their others, because so far, not a one of them has not been phenomenal in my eyes. If you're a fan of metal or Demon Hunter, this one won't disappoint. Go get it. Hell hath no fury, at all.

I know a lot of you haven't seen my house here in Fort Worth at all, but those who have know about the Coca-Cola themed decorations. Well, this past weekend, we finally finished purging it all. It's all gone. We've gotten some more modern decorations up on the walls, and painted the one wall that had the "old soda shop-style" striping a dark green. It looks really really good, and I'll get some pictures up here as soon as I can.

Thanksgiving is coming up. Have a good one, and I'll see ya'll before then hopefully. Got some updates on my WoW characters I'd like to post some screenshots of, if nothing else, and I want to talk about BioShock as well, since I finally got my hands on it. For now though, I'm out.

Trading Spaces: Fixing a Stupid Idea

2007-11-18T10:55:00.000-06:00

I'll admit, Trading Spaces used to be a guilty pleasure of mine. I don't know why, it was just fun to watch.

At least it WAS fun up until they fired the host, Paige Davis, and went to a "host-less" format. Which, in my view, essentially gave the show very little direction or cohesion. I quit watching as much after that, and eventually gave it up altogether.

From what I hear, the production company for the show decided to essentially give the show a "fresh start" and basically went and hired all new designers and carpenters. As often happens when people try to fix what ain't broken, the ratings were in the tanker. Even my Mom, a huge fan, quit watching.

Well a new production company has apparently bought the rights to the show. And guess what they did right off the bat? Called Paige Davis and asked her to come back, and brought back many of the show's popular designers.

If it were up to me, I'd be making some advertising promos for this new season called "Trading Spaces: Don't reinvent the wheel, idiots". And yes, the "idiots" is very essential.

In other news, GREEN! Our kitchen wall is GREEN! And it looks SWEET.

Happy Veteran's Day.

2007-11-11T16:06:00.001-06:00

Warning: Incoming Veteran's-Day-Remembrance-slash-Cuteness-Overload.

And I bet you're wondering exactly how that's going to be pulled off.

Well, watch!

LOLBUNNY!

Happy Birfday Mom!

2007-11-05T21:01:00.000-06:00

First of all, let me say Happy Birthday to my Mom, who turned 1 year older on November 3rd. She got some other great pieces for the living room this past weekend. I swear I'll get some pictures up soon!

While she was out on a weekend long trip with her friends, I opted to take the opportunity to head down to Waco and visit all my peeps. It was also Homecoming for BU this particular weekend.

Friday night was a blast. We got a big huge group of people at On the Border, and just had a ball in general. Got to see Lindsey and Daniel Cazac again (by the way praise God, the man got a great job in NC before their move later next month), and...I dunno how to describe it, it was just a fun evening. Plus those Chipotle Steak Tacos are delicious.

Saturday Chris and Kelley had a wedding shower at the Bonow's place. I failed at the quiz game miserably though. Ah well. On Saturday, Rudyard turned 20, and the D-house guys threw him a suprise party. Justin committed arson on our taste buds with his extra spicy enchiladas. Fortunately he also made non-spicy ones, which were delish. We played Russian Tag, which entails going out to a playground and picking 2 people to be "it". Those 2 people have to keep their eyes closed, but only they can touch the ground. Everyone else must navigate the playground equipment to avoid them, but if they touch the ground or get tagged, they're out. Last 2 people standing are rewarded with congratulations...and must now be "it" themselves. It's a LOT of fun, I have to admit. Lee and Angie literally blitzed through one round, tagging people left and right. After that, the nerds among us went back and watched an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, at Rudyard's request. It was the two-parter "Year of Hell". I've seen it, it's a very good episode.

Sunday...Church, lunch with Josh/Angie/Lee/Rudyard/Mindy/Emily/Julie/Megan/a girl named Theresa who I just met/ at Fazoli's (DANG I missed those breadsticks), and afterwards I went along on a shopping trip with Josh, Angie, and Mindy. The poor girls subjected Josh to a clothes shopping trip, which also turned into a lesson in fashion. Me? I was no help, I sided with Angie. Actually, they found him a very nice brown/blue shirt, and I found one of the same style but in gray and red, so I grabbed that.

Oh yeah, I also hit the comic store and Mardel's as well. The comic store was completely sold out of the latest issues of Star Wars Legacy, so I couldn't get those, but I got caught up on KOTOR, Dark Times, and Rebellion (though actually they were missing one issue of Rebellion I don't have also). I really really am growing fond of Knights of the Old Republic the more I read it. I think there's a Trade paperback of the first six issues, pick it up and see if you like. It's based on the video game of the same name, but you don't have to have played it to enjoy it.

On the recommendation of one Stephen Schleicher of the now-shut down majorspoilers.com, I also picked up volume 1 of Image's "Invincible". It's about a kid who has to deal with all the normal high school teen issues, but in addition, his dad is a powerful superhero and now that puberty's hitting him, his powers are manifesting as well. Volume 1 is kind of introductory fare, getting the reader set up completely into the world of Invincible, establishing the major characters and relationships, but Volume 2 is apparently where it really picks up, because we find out...well, you know what, go read them for yourself. It's a new take on classic superhero themes, and there's a big swerve waiting for you in Volume 2.

Okay, so now we come to today. I'm sure I've told most of you who read this thing about the big move that took place this weekend. If not, recap time. Basically, the whole office area where I work is being renovated. New carpet, new cubicles, new furniture, whole nine yards. The plan was to shuffle people around as particular areas were torn down and rebuilt, but the floor is just too full. So they relocated a sizable chunk of the people to another plant (which is just down the road). Unfortunately that sizeable chunk consisted of all of the buyers and many of the supply management specialists/administrators. Including yours truly. So, now we're at a completely different facility and shoved into some VERY tight quarters. You've got 2 people to a cubicle now, and managers sharing with each other or with buyers in some cases. We've got a much reduced amount of desk space. The conference room we've been allocated is a very small office. The air apparently doesn't work cause it's FREAKIN' HOT!! And we're gonna be here for about five months. Fun time. Oh well, I reckon somehow, we'll muddle on through.

Speaking of which, I think I've muddled through this entry enough. I'll catch ya'll later. Gonna go rock out to Thousand Foot Krutch's "The Flame in All of Us".

Music to put the Flesh to Death by

2007-10-31T19:19:00.000-06:00

And now for your enjoyment on this Hallow's Eve, a collection of beautiful lyrics from some of my favorite artists.

"I ascended to the top of the mountain.
I stood in the center of the blaze,
yet I was not consumed"

"One Final Heartbreak, and blinding lights will guide our way
Free us our bloodstains, and they shall call us by our name.
Undying"

"Pull the trigger now, end me.
Mark me for the kill.
Like I marked Your hands,
Your feet, I spilled
all Your Blood flowing deeper
to suffocate the sin.
Til I drown in You
again.
I am so alive, since You took my life
I'm walking dead now, only You remain
I'll take the life You gave, I'll walk from the grave
I'm walking dead now, only You remain"

"I'm so sick, infected with
where I live.
Let me live with out this
empty bliss
selfishness
I'm so sick."

"I give it all to You
Letting go of mine
reaching as I fall,
I know it's already over, now.
Nothing Left to Lose
Loving You again
I know it's already over, already over now"

"Lay my head down
Breathe the dream the darkness on it's way
but I'm not afraid
I'll put my head down
just believe the scars were worth the pain
cause I'm not afraid"

"Rebirthing now,
I wanna live for love, wanna live for You and me
Breathe for the first time now
I come alive somehow
Rebirthing now,
I wanna live my life, wanna give you everything
Breathe for the first time now
I come alive somehow
Right now."

"I'm not ready to lay
not ready to fade
I'm not ready to die"

"You are the rock when the billows roll
You are the new, you are the old
When all else changes, You are the same
and when everything passes away, You will remain"

"There is none that can stand against...the power of Fire."

Enjoy. And see if you can name the artist and song for all 10.

new movehs

2007-10-29T21:00:00.000-06:00

I went to Barnes and Noble this past Friday night. While I found nothing new and awesome to read at first glance, I decided to check out their DvD selection. Found a couple of good movies, one of which I never had seen before, but turned out to be awesome.

The first one was Alien vs. Predator, unrated edition. I have no idea what the differences between the unrated and the rated versions are, but there seems to be some additional scenes that weren't in the rated version. I know this movie got panned by critics, but for a good old fashioned monster fight, especially for old fans of these two movie series, it delivers pretty well, some very good action. It's one of those movies (kind of like Transformers) that in a lot of people's opinion should not have had so much human story, and more of the aliens kicking each other's butts. And it's not overly gorey at all, at least not for the humans (Predators get impaled a few times though).

The other film I got was Hellboy. If you're not familiar with Hellboy, it's a comic book series. Look it up on Wikipedia. Basically, he was a young demon summoned by a Nazi cult during WWII, but US soldiers found him and cared for him. In response to the ride of occultic activity the Nazis were employing, the US forms the Beareau of Paranormal Research and Defense. After WWII ends, the Beareau exists to investigate and destroy paranormal threats. Hellboy, raised by the human scientist who took him in, is now their main agent. The movie deals with his origins, relationships with other members of the Beareau, and an ancient demonic theat.

Sounds really weird, but it's AWESOME. Ron Perlman stars as Hellboy, and based on this performance alone, he is now one of my favorite actors. Highly highly underrated at his craft. He's got a very dry wit that lends itself well to the role. I like the character concept, a demon who fights for the cause of good, against other demonic/supernatural threats. Good redemption type of story. Highly recommend if you want a good action movie.

By the way if you've ever seen my living room, you know it's full of old Coca-Cola memorabilia. Well...it was. This weekend Mom and I got new wall items (a mirror, a framed print, and a new shelf) and a new coffee and end table(s). All the Coca-Cola stuff is out of that living room. I can hardly recognize the place now! But I like it a lot. It was a beating to put up the mirror though...that thing is HEAVY and requires being nailed into studs obviously. Well, my studfinder is apparently out of calibration, because we missed them a lot. But they're securely attached to the wall now and look great. I'll post some pics later.

I want to come to Waco this weekend. Anyone willing to put me up? Heh heh.

Aight I'll catch ya'll later...sleepytime.

Sword and Laser....of the SPIRIT!

2007-10-26T17:54:00.000-05:00

Being something of a fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy works of various sorts, I was rather happy to discover the existence of the newly-formed online book club known as "The Sword and Laser". It was started by former CNET podcaster Veronica Belmont, and recommended on Extralife Radio. You can check out the website here. I totally figured it'd be a great way to get introduced to new books that I hadn't heard of before.

Well, the first book they're reading is called "The Golden Compass". They're doing this one because a movie based on it is currently in the works. Fair enough. So I decided at some point I'd pick up the book and read it.

That is, until this was brought to my attention.

Yeah. I think I'll skip this one.

Besides, my Dad just gave me a copy of Star Wars: Cloak of Deception, by the awesome James Luceno. Frankly, sounds a lot more enjoyable.

Hope ya'll had a great week. Hope David and Josh (and their wives, on the off chance they read this) are enjoying being married men. Hope all my Waco peeps are doing fantastic.

Speaking of Waco, one of ya'll leave me a comment/write on my facebook wall/call me and tell me what if anything is being planned for a Halloween Outreach. Just so I can keep ya'll in my prayers that particular night.

Because controversy sells!

2007-10-20T18:18:00.000-05:00

I don't even know what to make of this one.

New interview with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling can be found here

In it, she reveals a few things left unstated in the books.

Like the fact that Albus Dumbledore, aged headmaster of the school of Hogwarts, Harry's mentor, and basically the Obi-Wan of the series, is (or rather was) gay.

I sense a plot to create controversy buzz in order to sell more books now that the series has ended. I mean, why else would you wait til NOW to say this?

Thoughts?

Hat tip: Extralife

Hallowarcraftween!

2007-10-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

I happen to be a big fan of the more innocent aspects of halloween...costumes and candy and good natured scaring.

And apparently so is Blizzard Entertainment.

That's my mage, in a ninja costume with a pumpkin head, riding a flying broomstick. Got most of that during our numerous beatings we put on the legendary Headless Horseman.

Funtimes.

HL2 Episode 2

2007-10-13T12:38:00.000-05:00

If you are playing Half-Life 2: Episode 2 at the moment (or intend to at some point), be advised that this post has spoilers.

I just finished my first run through of the game. It's incredibly fun. More of an outdoor environment than the dark sewers or cityscapes of Episode 1, and Valve did a beautiful job.

But the ending...that incredible battle with the Striders, the awesome cinematic watching the portal close, we FINALLY get some indication of WHO the G-Man is and what he's doing, and the final reward is watching Eli Vance get murdered by a Combine Advisor, fading to black with the sounds of Alyx crying over her father's body??

Gah...so depressing. Valve had better get Episode 3 out to us a lot quicker than 2. This is almost as bad as the cliffhanger ending to Halo 2. And when they do, I'm going to enjoy putting lead justice into every Advisor I come across.

Still, incredibly fun. I'm going to enjoy playing through it again, and especially doing some of these unlockables.

Holy Freaking CRAP!

2007-10-11T23:13:00.000-05:00

Oh man...I can't believe it....you may or may not know about Extralife Radio. It's a podcast I listen to and regularly contribute to, in the manner of saying something funny in my cranky old man voice. The character has become known as Old Man Franks.

Well this past ELR, the guys BROUGHT ME ON THE SHOW LIVE.

Not like, I called in, I actually got on Skype with them and had a few minutes talking with them in character. Absolutely awesome. Thanks to Scott and Brian and Obsidian for letting me be a part of it.

If you wanna download the episode, here's the link. I'm on at the very end. I have to warn you...the first part of the show...gets a little crazy. Went a little off topic and started discussing...um...sweating in odd places. Yeah. You have been warned. Mature audiences only. Et cetera. Fast forward to the last 15 minutes or so if you don't wanna hear it, but it does get brought up during my segment.

Much love to ELR, and I shall continue my contributions until they don't like me anymore!!

Wedding the Two

2007-10-10T20:04:00.001-05:00

You know I suppose I should say something about Josh and Angie and the fact that they're MARRIED now!

This past weekend was ye olde wedding day for my bro. I can't believe 2 of my best friends are married men now. And the third is only in a month and a half.

Am I jealous? Maybe a little bit. But I reckon there's a reason, so I choose to trust. Which doesn't mean I don't question it. Loudly. And often. I imagine God thinks my rants on that subject are rather hilarious, given that He knows the ultimate overall story to the rest of my life (by virtue of having written it). Some days this being limited with respect to viewing time really stinks.

At any rate, the wedding was great, though poor Josh was stressed out the whole weekend right up until it started. But we managed to get everything done and prepped, so hopefully he enjoyed it all as it happened. He should be back in the next couple of days from the honeymoon.

Had an absolute ball hanging out with everyone again. Pirate raids. One last time of what can only be described as "D-House Bro-age" for Josh. Watching "The Prestige" with Chris, Kelley, and Joseph. Sardines on campus (and the mysterious vanishing Tony). Breakfast at Adriana and Janette's. Watching everyone dance (or in some cases try to do so) at the reception. Good times.

Funny story, I noticed this weekend for the first time that one of my rear doors would not lock. I couldn't lock it manually, with the keychain, with any of the switches in the car, it was like it was jammed. Chris and Kelley went with me to the mall to take everyone's tuxedos back and Kelley kept opening her door without me near the car. I kept wondering if the smart key had a bigger range than I thought, until finally I got back there and figured out the lock was jammed open. Well, I got it over to Freeman Toyota yesterday, my dealer set me up with one of their mechanics, and he took the car off to go fix it. Meanwhile I go over to the waiting room and pull out my work laptop, thinking maybe I'll check my email while I wait. I pull out the computer and don't even have the wireless internet up and running when my dealer comes over and tells me it's fixed. No idea how it got jammed, but he had it done in minutes, and gave it a free car wash as well. I really do have an incredible dealer lookin' out for me with this purchase. I seriously recommend them if you're wanting a new Toyota. (And with an average 45-50 mpg a Prius is a darn good investment!)

I'm having a good week so far I reckon, getting a lot accomplished. Only thing on the horizon I really want to do is get my Blood Elf warlock to level 58 (he's currently 56) and finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I really really didn't want to buy that until it came out in paperback, but dangit, I wanna know how the story finishes out! Why in paperback you ask? Because a couple of weeks ago I got the first 6 books in paperback and I didn't want my collection to not match. Yes, I know that makes me borderline obsessive-compulsive, hush. I bought the darn hardcover didn't I?? Organization shall not stand in the way of a good read! Too bad I can't replace "Organization" with "Work" in that sentence.

Your World. Delivered. If We Approve.

2007-10-02T17:28:00.000-05:00

Let me open by stating that we do have AT&T internet service in this house. I honestly haven't had that many bad issues with it. But I have HUGE reservations about this new little addendum to their terms of service. Quoted from Section 5 of the aformentioned...

"AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes (a) violates the Acceptable Use Policy; (b) constitutes a violation of any law, regulation or tariff (including, without limitation, copyright and intellectual property laws) or a violation of these TOS, or any applicable policies or guidelines, or (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries."

Note that it says "tends to damage". Not even "damages", but "tends to". Which means they can probably get away with it without any actual proof.

So what we're forced to agree with in order to get AT&T service is that if we publish any negative criticism online of AT&T (or it's parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries), they have the full right to cut off our service. Of course they SAY (per Ars Technica) that they're only interested in eliminating advocacy of violence or material harmful to children (as in child porn), not terminating service just because someone speaks negatively about the company, but the language is there. It's excessively broad, and they appear to be making no attempts to change it to give customers freedom of speech protection that they deserve.

Oh, what's that AT&T?

You want me to absolutely trust you not to degrade my connection in any way if we give you a tiered internet and I refuse to pay for your higher level?

Yeah, when you keep pulling off crap like this, that ain't going to happen. You take the first step maybe by fixing the overly broad language here, and we'll work from there. Otherwise, you can take your tiered internet and terms of service, shine em up real nice, turn em sideways, and shove em straight up your...well you get the idea.

I won't be suprised if our service is cut off a day or two after I publish this post. I will be madder than hell, but not suprised.

In other news, tortellini pasta + alfredo sauce + pork sausage = OMG BEST THING EVARZ. Try it. Utterly delightful.

Hmmm...I have someone else whom I wouldn't mind going off on, but I'm wondering if perhaps we may have a regular segment here for blog entries. Someone whom I can basically tell that they suck every entry. Well I'll save this other unlucky recipient of my rage for another day and we'll see how it goes.

Aighty catch ya'll later

to STRIKE!

2007-09-30T13:06:00.000-05:00

This cat describes the Bmatt perfectly.

Ride

2007-09-25T17:58:00.000-05:00

SHINY!!!

Mawwige. What bwings us togevah....today.

2007-09-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

Well, as they say, 1 down, 2 to go.

David and Holland are now married. Hitched. Tied together. Insert your favorite marriage-aphorism here.

Wedding was beautiful, to say the least. Having the land of Scotland close to her heart, Holland wanted to incorporate some elements from there into her wedding. Which means, yes you guessed it, formal highland attire for the groom. David was most definitely sporting a kilt (the answer to the question you are all now asking yourselves is yes, by the way). And ironically enough, it actually looked pretty good. Originally they planned to have the groomsmen wearing this as well, but ultimately settled on just David. We all wore more traditional tuxedos (which, I must add, we all looked very pimp in). Overall I'm very happy for the both of them and wish them the greatest joy and happiness ever.

Which makes me feel really really stupid that I left their wedding present in my car. And that I didn't realize that until I was in Waco. Oy. Sorry guys. I'll mail the stuff to you.

Next up is Josh and Angie, less than 2 weeks away, and then a couple of months later, Chris and Kelley. It's a season to get married, apparently!

So, yeah, I have my new car now. A 2008 Toyota Prius. And man oh man is she one sexy machine. I'll post some pics tomorrow. But DANG. She drives great, she has AWESOME features, and is just a joy and a blessing from God.

It's really really late or else I'd yammer on more about my car. But I really need to go to bed.

After I re-read Planet Hulk. And possibly the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price. Both excellent books.

Night!

Hacking a 6-Volt battery

2007-09-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

Wow...I am seriously going to try this the next time I'm in Wal-Mart and can get one of these.

Jobs going okay. I'll let you know more tomorrow when my first week is over. After that, gotta go get my man David married. Enjoy and catch ya'll later.

Sigh

2007-09-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

Yeah, didn't go camping. That stupid barbecue we had at work made me sick. On my very last day in that position. I'd almost suspect some of the people there of adding something to it, if I thought the people who WOULD do that were smart enough to do so.

Let me just clarify, a lot of the people I worked with I really did like. They are good people. There are just a couple there who were not, in my view.

At any rate, I didn't get to go camping. And that made me freaking mad. After that abated, I was just sad. I really hope ya'll had fun. Yeah, it'll make me sadder that I didn't get to go if you DID, but you know something, I can live with that.

I start my new position tomorrow. I'm, as you can imagine, quite nervous at this point. It's so imminent, really. And I have no idea what to expect. I mean, I don't have to clock in, I have to charge my time. I don't even know how to do that. I don't know when I'm supposed to go in, or even if it matters. I don't know if I'm going to be working a lot of overtime, which is the one downside to this position, I don't get paid near as well for it. I don't even know exactly where my desk is!!

But you know, I bet all this pales in comparison to what David is going through. I mean, in less than a WEEK he gets married. He will be sharing his LIFE with Holland. Not that it's a bad thing, but talk about a monumental change. Just the idea that nothing is going to be the same going in to it, like this job of mine, would be sending my stomach aflutter.

But then again, what do I know, I'm still unattached!

In other news, my warlock is now level 50. For any of you who know much about World of Warcraft, that means FELGUARD! For those of you who don't, I'll post some pics in a minute or two here.

EDIT: LIKE RIGHT NOW! Click to embiggen

Speaking of which, AFK stands for "Away From Keyboard"

2007-09-13T22:18:00.000-05:00

Hey all. I'll be gone this weekend, camping with David Butler and his other groomsmen as part of his bachelor party.

I just want to point out that this saturday, 9/15, is the anniversary of the date my life was changed forever.

Eight years ago I was at Southcliff Baptist Church, a new member in the youth group there. Mostly thanks to the very man who's getting married in a week.

That night a nearby church experienced a tragedy and horror. Several people died when a disturbed young man entered and began shooting.

We left early that night, after praying and crying. But as I loaded up everything I had brought with me, Rex Butler stopped me. He couldn't let me leave until he knew for sure that I knew Christ, intimately. It was at that point I realized that I only thought I had. I was never certain. I did not want to be uncertain anymore. I knew what God had done for me, for us all, but for ME specifically. That sounds selfish, but I think you understand. I knew it. But I truly did not understand it. Not until then. I prayed for God to finally take residence in my heart. I wanted Him, forever. I wanted to surrender control and in the process find hope fulfilled and love everlasting.

Now, 8 years later, I feel as if I have only begun to truly understand my savior and what he has, is, and will always be doing with me, and with us all.

And I look forward to going ever deeper with it. No matter how long it takes to even glimpse the smallest morsel of understanding and feeling the truth, I am His. I will never be anything but that.

So this weekend I go to celebrate not only the 8 years of friendship with one of the greatest men I have had the privilege of knowing as he takes the truly blessed step of marriage, but also to celebrate Jesus. Because in death, He granted me life eternal.

May He continue to bless you as well, with all that He has given me, and far more.

Postponed!!

2007-09-09T20:36:00.000-05:00

Good news and bad news about my car.

The good news is that I'm getting a 2008 in lieu of a 2007, for the same price.

The bad news is I have to wait 20 more days for it

For some odd reason the factory pulled back the car I had ordered from shipping and converted it to a 2008 model. The dealer could not tell me why, he had no idea himself, but he apologized and guaranteed me the same price we had already agreed upon, with the same set of features I was getting, and that I should get it before the end of the month.

I am getting very sick of waiting for this thing though. But I suppose there is a reason for it, and there's little I can do anyway.

Last week as an associate buyer starts tomorrow. I have no idea how it's going to go. I'm trying to get as many problems dealt with as possible before I do leave. For the most part, my desk should be fine already, so my boss and fellow forgings buyer have little they can complain about.

By the way, if Kindel and Malinda ever drop by your place when they're very tired, you're in for an amusing time. Those girls are hilarious enough as it is, when they're sleepy, it's worse. Or better, depending on how you look at it! Thanks for droppin' by you two.

I bought the first three Harry Potter books in paperback last week. They're very good reads, as it turns out. I wonder how many of the others are in paperback already, I don't really want hardcovers (they won't match!). The first three were all I could find, but that WAS at Walmart. Hmmmm...I smell reason to go to a bookstore. Heh, like I need a reason.

Okay, just rambling now, so here's a kitty.

New Ipods

2007-09-05T21:38:00.000-05:00

What is it about Apple that every time they do something cool, I feel like I HAVE to blog about it??

Well, I don't know, but I do know that these new iPods that were just announced are HOT

Here's the link from Ars Technica

They basically redid the whole line of iPods. They're going with 4 models now, the Shuffle, a new version of the Nano, the iPod Classic, and the new iPod Touch

The Shuffle is the same you've seen, the small matchbox size player with a clip on it, but now comes in 5 colors: White, Light blue, sea green, purple, and the new Red that goes to fund the fight against AIDS. All are 1 GB in size, and $79 each.

The new Nanos come in the same selection of colors (replacing the purple with the classic black) but are no longer the thin models you're used to. The new player is more square in shape, built to accomodate the 2.5 inch screen. Why does a Nano need a screen that size? Because it now does video. Pretty sweet. 4 and 8GB models, priced at $149 and $199, respectively.

The iPod classic is essentially the 5th gen iPod (video model) with a beefed up storage capacity, the cover flow feature added to the player, and a sleeker, all metal design. Comes in white and black. 80 GB is $249, and the whopping 160 GB is $349

Finally, the coup de grace, the new iPod Touch. This is what all of us who loved the iPhone's player capabilities but were disappointed with the phone features were waiting for. Because, essentially, that's what you have here. An iPhone without the crappy phone part. Full touch screen interface, cover flow, calendar, contacts list, and a built in Safari web browser!! Yep, bring this bad boy in range of some Wi-Fi and you're able to browse the net and preview/buy songs directly off iTunes!! And it's less than 8mm thin. Comes in 8 and 16 GB models, priced at $299 and $399 respectively

Check the links for more info, or click here to see them all side by side. These things look sweet. I'm heavily considering buying an iPod Touch. It's a really awesome looking player.

What do you guys think?

Operation Waco Debrief

2007-09-05T20:59:00.000-05:00

Stand by for facial recognition analysis security sweep.

.
..
...
....
.....

Analysis complete. Welcome back.

Reminder: Conflagration is a class-9 information source. All information passed through here must be maintained at highest security and secrecy levels. Failure to do so will result in prosecution for treason.

The latest reports from Waco have arrived. Our operations there continue as planned. Base One, code-named "D-House", was gracious enough to host the Commander this weekend as he hand-delivered mission briefings and inspected the state of operatives.

The remainder of this transmission is encoded for security purposes.

Indeed, I was in Waco for this past labor day weekend, and up front I must make 2 apologies. I regretfully did not get to see the Kwil despite her being in town, nor did I deliver on a promise to at least call one Ashlie Kaim. Ladies, should either of you be reading this, I am sorry. I feel quite awful for not delivering on the promise to do so. I hope you can forgive me.

Friday night, a large group of us went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for, well, some wings. Some delicious ones at that. And it was also the site of a very monumental record break. Allow me some background. Buffalo Wild Wings has this challenge know as the "Blazin' Challenge" where one must eat 12 wings in their Blazin' sauce (the hottest flavor) in 6 minutes or less. Now, Tony and Chris (not Stone, the other Chris. I can't remember his last name at the moment) have gotten 24 wings, 6 each of the 4 hottest flavors, and are challenging each other to eat all 12 without drinking. They pull it off. Both of them are thinking that they could pull off winning the Blazin' Challenge. Lee shows up a little late, and after hearing what Tony and Chris managed to do, decides to enter the challenge right there. Now, me, I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to spicy foods. I like to get the mild sauce myself. I'm seriously thinking we may be dragging this guy to a hospital before the night is over. Tony has found out the record for this challenge (at least at this particular BWW) is 3 minutes, 3 seconds. Lee believes he can beat it. Some of the more cynical of you might be inclined to think that these wings would be cooked even spicier for the Challenge. Well, upon asking the waiter, we confirmed that this is indeed the case. So, here come the wings. Lee absolutely tore into these things. I have never seen the like. I don't even know how to describe it. He grabbed a wing with both hands, and tore nearly all the meat off in one chunk. In the end, we had 12 bones set aside, Lee covered in wing sauce, and a new record of 12 wings eaten in 1 minute and 35 seconds. Holy crap. It was amazing. And Lee was saying he didn't even think they were that spicy. The actual temperature of the wings (being fresh and all) hurt more than the spice. Very impressive, my friend. We ended up playing the longest game of Cranium I think I've ever been a part of in my life afterwards.

Saturday me and Josh and Angie spent a good part of the day hanging out with Kyle. Who is still awesome. Kyle got a copy of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I haven't played a lot of the Metroid games, and I'm really never good with first-person shooters unless there's a keyboard and mouse involved. But Metroid Prime Three controls absolutely fantastic with the whole Wiimote. You point right at whatever you need to blast or manipulate. About the only real issue I have is that it's very difficult to turn around quickly and the Lock-on feature doesn't always work adequately for strafing. But it was very enjoyable, and it's leaning me ever closer to a Wii purchase as my next gaming system. Halo 3 will probably shove it back towards the Xbox 360. And then I'll go home and look at my beast of a PC and say "Pfffft, forget you silly consoles!". Sigh. At least Bioshock is playable on XP, so I can get that. Microsoft is going to force me to buy Vista if I ever want to play Halo 2 on my PC however. Idiots.

Sunday: Church, lunch, getting fitted for another tux (Josh's wedding), and we watched a really good movie called "The Ultimate Gift" that night. It's an excellent film and you should go pick it up if you're so inclined.

Monday I spent hanging out with the Chris of the Stone. We had lunch with some guys he knew at Rudy's and then we got the 3rd and 4th Harry Potter films to watch. Unfortunately, I had to leave for home before we could watch Goblet of Fire, which is a darn shame because I've only seen that one once and I want to see it one more time before I catch Order of the Phoenix (which should be out on DVD soon as well). The original plan WAS to go out to Lake Whitney, but the threat of incliment weather (which later manifested itself) derailed those plans. Worst. Drive-Home Weather. EVER.

All in all, a fun weekend. I also got lucky enough that we found my comics that I had left there three weeks ago, as well as an umbrella I had left there who knows how long ago.

But it's back to work, and now that Mom is officially going to days, this'll be the first night where she's home when I'll be home. Conveniently enough, it's also the same night that the Extralife Radio podcast records, which I like to be there for.

Next entry should have a nifty little pic of something I should get tonight, and I want to talk about the current storylines going on in Star Wars comics, as well as the novel series. Catch ya'll later

Shaolin Monks to sue someone because they claimed Ninjas can beat them.

2007-09-01T12:21:00.001-05:00

If you haven't gotten your head wrapped around the fact that the Internet and the culture that has spawned around it is an undeniable part of our culture, the below article has all the proof you should need.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070831/K083106AU.html

Month of Change

2007-08-28T17:08:00.001-05:00

September promises to be an interesting month for your friendly neighborhood B-Matt.

First of all, I finally got word on my new car. She will be at the dealership on the 10th, so you can bet I'll be over there picking her up, getting all the financing details straightened out, and all that. This will be my first "new" car, and I'm hyped about it. I really think this is a solid investment. The Prius gets very high ratings from all the consumer reports, it's very reasonably priced, gets great mileage, and it drives really great.

Secondly, I got the promotion I was going for here at Bell. It's back at the old plant I was working at initially, not where I thought I was going to go, but that's not a bad thing. My title will be "Senior Supply Management Administrator", and I'll be working on the V-22 Program exclusively. I'll be going from buying parts and managing the schedules of a small subgroup of suppliers in a specific commodity to looking at all parts for the V-22 program, analyzing dates that parts are supposed to come in, and helping to align that with our production schedule. I'll also be helping to develop plans for high-risk parts, ones that if we don't get on time will seriously hamper our ability to build these aircraft, to mitigate the risk of delayed shipments or bad-quality parts. I hope that made some kind of sense. At any rate, the pay raise is very significant and I no longer have to deal with being pressured to join the union, because this position is not unionized. I'm quite excited for this opportunity. I start it on the 17th.

A few very short days later, my brother and best friend, David Butler, is getting married to his beloved Holland Tanner. I'm goin' down to Houston on the 21st to be there for that. I'm very very happy for him and looking forward to having a good time there.

My mom goes days starting next week, so she'll no longer be working the night shift. That means she'll be home when I'm home and can do stuff like a normal human can. The possibility of us driving each other crazy is always there, but I think it'll be a good thing for her. Plus she's a hell of a lot better cook than I ever will be, heh heh.

Finally, this weekend is Labor Day weekend. Three day weekend. No idea what the crap I'm going to do with myself. Going to Waco again is always a possibility, if they will have me. It's also possible I will find something fun to do at home. We shall see!

What does the upcoming month hold for you guys?