I Finished Mass Effect!

I finally finished the game! Wooohoooo! Here's to finishing a game that's already three or four years old and has a sequel! :P To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by the climax of the story. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the length of the game (my first playthrough being just shy of 25 hours)... but I suppose that's why they included so many extras, as well as a REPLAY option. Hell yes, I WILL start over with Shepherd as a level 47 with pimped out weapons and skills!

Actually, after setting up a gamesave with my "finished" info, I went ahead and started a new game as a new character. The first time I played through, I used the default male Shepherd, and I pretty much stuck to being a good guy and making choices that raised my Paragon standing. THIS time, however, I created a female Shepherd and I'm going to be a very, very bad girl!

Speaking of bad, I did actually complete the romance subplot and I saw the infamous "sex" scene, which was about as sexy as a hunchback janitor scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush. Oh well. I guess we can't have everything we want in a videogame, huh? Now I'm kind of wanting to know if the game developers had ideas for a lesbian romance subplot. Teehee. ;)

So I finally finished Mass Effect! Now on to other games!

----Blind Prophet

Stars tonight

http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/52A1F834-FD5E-0493-FBBDE8D6A42F2DDE_1.jpg

I had a chance to just sit outside with a cigar tonight and watch the stars. They were very pretty and I'm in an area with very little light pollution, so I could see the heavens quite clearly. It's nice to get away from videogames and work sometimes and just sit outside and watch the universe do what it does; go on and on and on. Maybe playing Mass Effect is bugging me subconsciously or something. :P

Tonight was a nice night; a chance to take it easy and just relax. In fact, I might just head outside again after posting this!

Take care, eveyone!

----Blind Prophet

Life is a game.. play it well!

http://www.vtliving.com/phototours/fall/dirtroad4.jpg

FALL BREAK! Recently I've felt like life has been a sidescrolling videogame like Super Mario and I've just been jumping over pipe drains and stomping on mushroom-shaped enemies. I'm not saying that life has been boring or that I've lost interest in things, mind you, but... at times it can feel like a mindless video game quest to reach... to reach what? The next level? To gather coins?

Fall break is here, and it's going to be nice to just hang out and take it easy for a few days. No more intense level-grinding or booty collection (unless it's wimminz we be talking, heh)... at least not for a few days. I'm not going to do ANYTHING during my fall break but be lazy.

How about you? What will/did you do for fall break?

----Blind Prophet

Listen up, gents!

Here's the deal: November is National Prostate Health month, so to honor that commitment to men's secret parts health, all men EVERYWHERE are required to grow and maintain facial hair during the entire month! It's not a law or anything, I suppose... and if you're a lawyer or a judge and you can't grow face hair because of your job, then I guess you're excused. I'm still going to sue you.

But for the rest of us... here are some awesome styles which you can start thinking about as you begin to let that fuzz run wild in anticipation of November! Seriously, this is a big deal. I'm pretty sure none of us gents want to end up with cancer in our no-no bits. So consider it. I'll be right there with you, locking away my razor and suspending its habeus corpus rights. :P

Great tidings and good luck to thine beards!

----Blind Prophet

Volcano in Indonesia

Apparently a volcano, Mt. Merapi, erupted on 26 October 2010, forcing thousands of villagers to flee for their lives. Some 15 people were killed because they were too close to the blast zone when the volcano erupted. If I were one of those villagers moved by this natural disaster, I'd probably want to sue God or something. I'm not sure who the lawyer would be, but I'd think of something.

Anyway, on to the point of this post: I want to be close to a volcano eruption someday. Wouldn't that be awesome? I've always wanted to wear one of those shiny heat-reflective suits and dip things into a moving stream of lava, just for the fun of it... dodge flying pieces of magma, and maybe even break my leg after falling due to the earth shifting below me! What magical times those would be! OK, so maybe that wouldn't be such a great idea. Murphy's law and all that.

But I still dream about it nonetheless. :D

----Blind Prophet

Borderlands

Borderlands! That's right, everyone... without evening finishing the other video games I'm currently trying (and apparently failing) to finish, I went out the other day and bought a copy of Borderlands. I'd heard good things about it, and I happened to stumble upon a store selling it fairly cheaply, so... *shrug* I grabbed a copy.

I've heard that it's a FPS/RPG offering a huge amount of weaponry, character upgrades, and large maps. I haven't gotten an opportunity to play this yet, because as I mentioned before... I'm trying to finish some other video games before beginning any new ones. We'll see how long THAT lasts. :P

----Blind Prophet

SEGA RingEdge and RingWide

Is SEGA getting back into the hardware game? It certainly looks that way! Recently, Sega has put out some arcade system boards named the RingEdge and RingWide. Some have dubbed these as the "Dreamcast 2," but as they aren't quite full consoles, I wouldn't necessarily give them that honor... yet.

There are rumors flying around that Sega is indeed looking to perhaps produce its own system in the next couple of years and get serious about rejoining the Console Wars. Would such a console be able to compete with the PS3 and xbox360? I think so, don't you?

I'd dearly love to see that happen.

----Blind Prophet

Golden Sun Photos!

These are just a few stills from Golden Sun: The Lost Age, for Gameboy Advance. Posting about the new DS Golden Sun yesterday got me in the mood to play the game again! Ahhhhh, such fun!

I actually even downloaded a GBA emulator so I could play this on my desktop. :P

Enjoy!

----Blind Prophet

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

My pants just nearly exploded off of my body when I first heard that Camelot was going to be finally making a sequel to the Gameboy Advance Golden Sun video games. I LOVED THOSE GAMES. There was nothing better back in the day than being able to play such well-developed and CAPABLE RPGs on the GBA. I mean... 30+ hours of full-size RPG gameplay and well-written story on a handheld gaming system? Golden Sun: The Lost Age, for instance, had a world-spanning weapon-creation system and a series of quests wherein one could forge a weapon of ultimate power... adding even MORE hours to the game. Not to mention side-bosses!

The Lost Age also left us all hanging with its climactic twist right at the end of the game, leaving us to wonder... What was going to happen to the world? How would Isaac and Felix and company stop the power-hungry Alex?

And now IT IS BACK.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, for DS.

I CANNOT WAIT!!! :D Here is the IGN preview of it:

http://ds.ign.com/articles/112/1129094p1.html

What say you, friends?

----Blind Prophet

HOLY CRAP HASSELBLAD!!

While I'm not entirely ignorant of the cost of some higher-end digital cameras and photography equipment, it never quite struck me just HOW COSTLY some of this stuff could be... until I began browsing the internet. Gobless the Information Age.

This here, ladies and gentlemen, is the Hasselblad H3DII-39MS Digital Camera! Wowsas! Apparently it has software and an operating system that can read your mind and a lens that can take a picture of your grandfather's grandfather using inter-dimensional time-warp. Well, maybe not, but I couldn't think of any other reason for the $30,000 PRICE TAG!!!

Again, I suppose I'm ignorant about the true cost of some of the better photography equipment out there... but this begs me to ask the question: IS IT NECESSARY? Some of the best pictures in history have been taken with cheapo cameras, on the fly and sometimes even accidentally. Do we really need cameras like the Hasselblad that cost as much as houses?

Thoughts?

----Blind Prophet

Beiber Time!

I can't even stand to post a photo of him, and it pains me to post about him, but...

BEIBER. I guess he needs a lawyer now! Everyone's probably already heard the latest about this "sensation" of a pre-teen pop star. It all began innocently in Canada... like so many other stories no one really cares about. (Sorry, leafies ;))...

Beiber was apparently playing laser tag over the weekend, enjoying himself immensely, when... word passed through the laser tag building that BEIBER IS IN THE HOUSE!!! So naturally, every kid in the building starts targeting the pop star, shooting him mercilessly and without pause. I have to admit; I'd do the same thing.

So apparently, while this was going on, one of the other children ALLEGEDLY yelled a homophobic slur at Beiber, who then ALLEGEDLY pushed/punched the kid. The kid's parents realized that their son had just been ALLEGEDLY assaulted by a millionaire, and so.... they are suing! Awesome!

Looks like Beiber needs to hire a good lawyer.

I have no advice for him.

----The Blind Prophet

UFO Abduction Insurance!

While fladoodling around on the internet the other night, looking for information on motorcycle insurance, I got bored and began to look for coverage policies on other things... meteor strikes, foreign invasion, animal damage...

...UFO ABDUCTIONS??

That's right, folks! Most of you may have heard of this before, but I was shocked to find that many (if not most) large insurance companies offer alien abduction insurance! Ummm... what? Am I missing something here? I understand the workings of supply and demand, but have there honestly been THAT many people demanding UFO abduction insurance, just on the off-chance that they are chosen to be swooped up in the next wave of alien experimentation on humans?

Here's a Wikipedia link about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_abduction_insurance

In the above wiki article, it says that the Heaven's Gate people all purchased UFO abduction insurance right before their mass suicide. The insurance company didn't pay off, though... I wonder if there's a way to prove that the cult peoples' souls actually DID get picked up by their alien spacecraft?

The world may never know.

----The Blind Prophet

MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE

Yeah, yeah... lately I've been talking about SPENDING SPENDING SPENDING... but you know what? I'm about to get done with my degree and ACTUALLY begin working full-time in my profession. Why the hell shouldn't I deserve a nice self-graduation present? Sure, it may seem masturbatory to my ego, but... WHO CARES? I think I've earned a gift from myself. Anyway, I've been considering getting a bike. Pictured is a Yamaha V-Star 1100, one of the models I've been drooling over. I wouldn't consider a Harley yet because I've heard that Harleys are expensive as far as parts and maintenance.

SO now to the point. Does anyone know of a cheap motorcycle insurance carrier? I know GEICO and Progressive do it, and are supposed to be fairly decently priced. Allstate too, I believe. But if I'm getting a bike, I want to make sure I'm getting the best deal available. What does everyone think? Anyone else have a motorcycle? WHICH INSURANCE PROVIDER DO YOU USE??? :P

----Blind Prophet

Canon EOS Rebel XS

Here's another camera I've been looking at lately. It's a more mid-range, less pricey model, and so it holds some attraction for me. If I start down the path of photography, I want to get something that's not too expensive, but still good enough to take really great photos. This is the Canon EOS Rebel Xs!!

It's 10.1 Megapixels, has an LCD screen, compact build, and intuitive controls. What more could a beginner ask for? And best of all, it's in the $500 price range; cheaper if I can snag one used! It's looks pretty good to me... what does everyone think?

Digital Camera

Lately I've been considering getting into some amateur photography. Yeah, it sounds cliched and it probably is, but damn. All the time I see awesome sunsets and moonscapes and car wrecks and murders... I mean... ummm... Cool stuff. And I find myself wanting to capture the moment in some way other than cell phone video. Hell, maybe I could even manage to find a new way to bring in cash! Or not.

Either way, I've been looking at the Nikon D7000 digital camera. It's expensive, but seems like a really good model to aim for in the future. Obviously I would probably start out with a simpler model, something I can pick up from EBAY or something for $200 or so. But... it's nice to dream!

Does anyone else have any experience with the Nikon D7000 camera?

Update on Spectral Force 3

So a couple of days ago, I posted about this new game I bought fairly cheaply at the local gaming store. Spectral Force 3! After looking it up and reading several reviews, I stumbled on over to Youtube and looked for a few gameplay videos, just so I could get a sense of what the gameplay was like before I actually began to play the game. Why? Because... uhhh... who cares why?

At any rate, Spectral Force 3 looks fairly interesting. I wouldn't say it's MINDBLOWINGLY new or anything, but as I said before; it's a standard Strategy RPG... and I'm OK with that! I don't need things to be constantly new to enjoy them!

So please enjoy this video, which is an excellent review of Spectral Force 3!

----Blind Prophet

SHOOT ME IN THE FACE

Recently, I was at the video store, browsing around and looking for some stuff to buy or rent to watch in my free time. Yes, I'm one of those lame-asses who doesn't have Netflix yet. Oh well... fuck it. Anyway, so I'm in the video place and I decided that I might stop by the kid's section and look for a movie or two that I could grab for my 2-yr old niece. She's a cutie and I thought I'd be nice and surprise her with a cute little children's film or something.

LO AND BEHOLD, what do I see? An entire rack of Land Before Time movies. WHAT THE FUCK. Yeah, I knew there were like 7 Land Before Time sequels out there... but I jest not, I counted SEVENTEEN different Land Before Time movies, each a different episode or "adventure," (and I use the term loosely).

Really?

Does Littlefoot really have THAT many problems? Didn't he reach that lost valley in the FIRST one? I think I must have missed some sort of timeslip subplot in the series, because honestly, I can't think of anything that would give any self-respecting animation studio to keep revisiting the same damned kid's movie. Pretty soon they're gonna be coming out with The Land Before Time: The Rise of Veloci-socialism.

Just wait and see.

I thought the first one was better alone.

Anyone agree?

NEW GAME! (for me)

I just bought this game in the cheap bin at a local gaming store... and I'm wondering if it's any good. I mean, I looked it up online and read everyone';s reviews about it, and it looks like a standard strategy RPG... same tactics-based gameplay we've had since FF Tactics, just with a different story and some new elements thrown in here and there. Honestly, I have no problem with that! I love this type of game!

So why has IGN.com and other similar gaming websites given it such a mediocre score with their game rating systems? Maybe I'm missing something because I haven't played it yet. *shrug* Spectral Force 3 looks like a good video game to me!

Well, I guess I'll find out.

Anyone have any experience with this game?

----Blind Prophet

Kansas City Chiefs are 3-1!!

That's right! Despite all reason, logic, and common sense, I am and have been a Chiefs fan for many a year... one of those die-hard fans that every year continues to woefully bleat, "THIS year... THIS year... THIS year they will win..."

AND IN 2010, IT ACTUALLY IS THIS YEAR!!! :D

Chiefs, now standing at 3-1 (due to today's loss against Indianapolis), are already doing wayyyyyy better than they did last year, or even in the past decade, to be honest. I was saddened by their failure to destroy the Colts today, yet deep down I know that it's alright. My team, for once, is on top! Before the game today, the Chiefs were the only undefeated team in the NFL. Can't beat THAT with an iron rod!

During the game today, I wasn't too impressed with Cassel's performance. Maybe it was because they were playing away from home, or... well, I have no idea; but for whatever reason, he just couldn't throw eligible, completed passes. Kansas City defense, however, was top-notch! I'm VERY happy to see KC defense doing as well as it has; keeping the enemy off-balance, applying pressure at the right time and in the right place... and generally somehow managing to foresee the path of the opposition. I was happy about that!

All-in-all... I'm not entirely excited about the loss against Indianapolis, but really, the Chiefs are still doing really well, considering their history.

Here's looking forward to more!

----Blind Prophet

TOO LATE REVIEW!!!

Alright, self-righteous glory-seeking gamers of un-disputable power... just shuddap. I KNOW, I KNOW, this game is what...? 3 years old now? SO WHAT? Some of us gamers can't afford to get the newest and the best right when it comes out. Because guess why? I don't get fucking food stamps. My money feeds me and I can't spend $60 on a video game the very DAY it comes out. I have to wait a year or two until the price drops to like $10 on the USED shelf at the local trade-in gaming store. So just stuff it and enjoy yet another TOO-LATE REVIEW!!!

Mass Effect is an amazingly well-constructed, full-throttle adventure/action RPG. What does that mean? Well, it's an RPG with levelling of characters and a points-based system of upgrading characters, as well as a method of upgrading weaponry and using new spells (called "biotics" in the game). And yet this isn't your standard RPG; it's not turn-based, there are no battle-screens (battles are real-time in the open environment), and it's largely action-based. Cool, huh?

Actually, since Mass Effect comes from Bioware, it's quite similar to Knights of the Old Republic, that MOST FUCKING AWESOME of RPG adventures for the PS2 and original xbox. It seems like a lot of the mechanics of gameplay, battle, and structure of quests is built from pre-existing KOTOR templates and game structure. That's OK with me, but gamers looking for something radically different from Bioware's other RPG fare might find a bit lacking. One example of this is the "light side/dark side" meter found in the game, which tracks your decisions through the plot and tells you whether your character is a good or bad dude. This also plays out in how other characters react to you later on in the game... again, much like KOTOR.

QUESTS! There are so many damned quests and minor plot lines to finish that I swear, I could play this game until my grandkids have grandkids and I probably still wouldn't be finished! There are multitudes of galaxies and planets to visit in Mass Effect, each having their own histories, environments, and pleasant surprises waiting for you to find! Add to those a HUGE amount of minor quests and you're ready to spend upwards of 100+ hours getting through the game.

YOU DECIDE! I really like the ability to design (to the last detail) your own character. You can make it an alien, a human, a woman, a man... choose facial features, etc etc... VERY customizable! It's the same with job classes and skill sets. Basically, you can be whatever you want to be in this game, though personally I'd recommend running through the game once as the pre-designed Commander Shephard. Hey, you won't see the special sex scene otherwise, right? ;)

The only real drawback I found in this game is the lack of awesome music. Yeah, there's some scifi sounding background music, but that's all it ever is. Elevator crap. There are no stunning scores for huge battles or catchy "planet exploration" tunes while you're... errr... roving around exploring a planet. I guess this may be a minor inconvenience for most, but I like to enjoy music when I'm playing a game, and I definitely noticed a lack of it in Mass Effect.

Well, that's all I have right now because I'm getting tired of typing and to be honest, I haven't even finished the game yet. AND I'M TOO CAUGHT UP TO SPOIL IT FOR MYSELF BY LOOKING IT UP ONLINE! Oh well. Call me back in about 100 hours and I'll tell you more about the ending and how I fixed things and saved the galaxy by killing Saren.

He DOES lose, right?

Right?

----Blind Prophet

Politicians are all the same.

When I heard the news that the Naked Cowboy was "running for President," I must admit, at first I was interested, laughing at the prospect of such a thing. The Naked Cowboy? REALLY? This world is full of surprises! Finally, someone in the White House who makes some sense!

Well... imagine my dismay when I tuned in to watch the Naked Cowboy's press conference concerning his candidacy. I stood watching in shock, not able to believe it... HE WAS CLOTHED.

WHAT?

I knew it. Politicians are all the same. The minute they enter into the realm of public office, these people must be somehow brainwashed by the Illuminati or something in order to appear alike and do the same things. I mean, wasn't the entire POINT of the Naked Cowboy's existence to BE NAKED? To sing his wondrous songs without clothing, no matter what weather or company chose to meet him?

And here he is, giving in to political pressure to wear clothing.

And I had such hopes.

*sigh*

----Blind Prophet

Life's Ironies

Today I was in a mandatory Diversity Seminar to increase professional understanding of the situation of increasing diversity in the workplace blah blah blah... just pretty much the general "don't murder people of other races" stuff that businesses/the workplace is required to give. As part of the seminar (which was 6 hours long, by the way), there were several panels of diverse students and people from the community who discussed and answered questions based on their experiences as members of a minority race. There were several different panels of people that came in and shared their experiences at different times during the day.

After about an hour or two of this, I began to notice something...

THE PANELS WERE SEGREGATED BY RACE.

There was one panel that was all-black, there was a panel of Spanish-speaking/Latinos, etc etc... none of the different panels were mixed together!

Call me a dick, but I found it sort of ironically hilarious that these groups of people were segregated by RACE during a DIVERSITY seminar.

*shrug*

----Blind Prophet

Embarrassing Habits!

THAT'S RIGHT! I was driving to work this morning, minding my own humble business... getting ready for the day, just enjoying my commute... when I looked to my right and noticed that the lady driving the car in the lane beside me was giving me a funny look. At first I didn't understand what the hell was wrong. Why was this strange lady daring to stare at me with a mocking, disgusted glare on her face?

Then I noticed that I was picking my nose. Hey, we've all done it at some point, right? I must have been flicking the boogers onto the floorboard or something, and I sincerely hope I was NOT subconsciously eating them. At any rate, it was very embarrassing, but NOW I AM SHARING IT WITH THE WORLD!!! HAH!! TAKE THAT, SOCIETALLY-PRESSURED SHAME!!!

So how about it, folks? What are YOUR secret embarrassing habits?

Not much to say today...

...as I'm in a retrospective mood and have little to say. Also, I have quite a lot of work to do, so here's some interesting music for you to enjoy while wasting your time on my blog! :D

P.S. Just try to ignore the messed up youtube embeds that are fucking with my blog template. Heh sorry. Oh well.

WARHORSE, Solitude



RUSH, Limelight (a personal fav!)

Sometimes, When My Brain Shuts Off...

... I start to daydream about running around dressed like this guy, challenging everyone to duels over small perceived insults. Cuz, you know, swashbucklin' dudes are pretty vain about their appearance and demeanor, right? Right? I would be. Don't you dare fucking insult my knee-high leather boots! I stabbeth theee!

I don't know, everyone. It's been a long day today. Sword fighting everyone in sight just every now and then seems to be the only option in helping me to retain my sanity while getting me through the day. Tomorrow will be better, I'm sure. Until then, however, enjoy this link where you can buy cheap swords that will undoubtedly break the first time you try to use them in actual combat!

http://www.trueswords.com/

*sigh*

They don't make 'em like they used to. This next site, however, DOES. It's definitely worth a look if you're seriously considering adopting the musketeer/pirate life and running around town getting into well-intentioned and naturally hilarious fights to the death:

http://www.starfireswords.com/info/home.php

----The Blind Prophet has SPOKEN!

Remember When...

THIS movie was the shit?

Maybe you were never a fan of the movie, but I sure as hell watched it as often as possible when I was little. They don't make movies like this anymore, and I personally feel that the world is poorer for it. Adventure, comedy, songs, and a bit of dark realism all meshed together to give us one fantastic film!

That creepy child-kidnapper with the hugely phallic nose scared the shit out of me... but I think that's a good thing. I never once let a skulking guy dressed in black ever catch me with a net when I was little.

Ever.

At any rate, enjoy the vid!

People are so RUDE

I don't know what it is, but for some reason people are so RUDE these days. Today, while driving around and innocently completing my shopping and errands for the day, I accidentally cut some guy off in traffic. OH MY GOD HIS PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS CAR!! The fucker followed me all the way to the next stop light, which happened to turn red right before I reached it. So the guy climbs out of his car, walks up to mine, knocks on the window, and starts bitching about the incident.

I honestly think I should have sucker punched him and sped through the red light, laughing all the way, but I asked him to calm down and told him it was a mistake. It really was; I hadn't seen his stupid vehicle. Anyway, so there were no big fights or anything... though in retrospect I kinda wish I had gotten out of my car and started some shit. That woulda been hilarious.

Anyway... was it really necessary for him to walk over to my car in the middle of traffic and cry like that? What a rude little piss-squirt. CALM THE FUCK DOWN. Nothing happened to your precious over-compensation of a car; it was an honest mistake. Just grow some man-balls and move on with your day like the rest of us. I hope you're reading this so you realize how much of a child you were today. Haha.

----Blind Prophet

PRAYYYYY

I have to give a seminar/lecture about Reconstruction and Black Code laws in the 1870s soon... and I was trying to think of some modern(ish) music to have playing while people are entering the auditorium in which I'll be presenting. The music needs to be sorta hip, but still be about African American conflict/discrimination problems.

Right now I'm looking at "Pray," by Jay-Z... but I'm not sure it has the right tone for a discussion/presentation about post-Civil War society in the South. Heh... The song doesn't need to be a show-stopper; it's basically background music that will be playing while everyone enters the room.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for other songs, please throw 'em at me!

Thanks!

----BLIND PROPHET BOYYYYYYY