So Much a Child

I feel old. I feel as if I have lived so much. Yet, I am still so much a child. I find joy in so many little things. A bouncy ball, seeing my breath in the cold air, carving pumpkins, a flashlight that projects a ghost, seeing things being destroyed, jell-o, fire!, christmas time (it’s so cozy and loving!), tobogganing, chocolate milk, making funny sounds to annoy my sister, my telescope (stars are awesome!), being around family, cartoons, dreaming of grand adventures…

When I was a kid, I imagined me growing up as someone between Indiana Jones and James Bond. Dreams seem to fade so rapidly in high school, where I got that feeling of being told what I can’t do more than what I can. In my last few months of high school, before I had to drop most of my courses and finish them through correspondence, I had two very good teachers who began to open my mind again. They seemed to enjoy what they did and when a teacher loves teaching it’s so much easier for a student to love learning. I will always remember them.

I may not end up stopping Nazis from unleashing the Ark of the Covenant on the world, or be seducing Miss Moneypenny, but I have confidence that I am stubborn enough to follow my dreams.

I think that I’d be a good writer. This entry is not reflective of my proper writing style, so no, you are not allowed to judge me. Hehe. I’d love to travel the world and write, like Ernest Hemingway, Joseph Conrad and Antoine de Saint Exupery, because through writing is the window to emotion, to relation, to dreams. The written word is life.

EDIT: A very good friend inspired this post. She knows who she is. <3

Fanboy Dying

A few days ago I was reading information about the PS3 when I came across some very interesting facts. I have heard that the PS3 was more flexible than my beloved 360, but I never knew how much or in what way. After reading some sites [here & here] I realized that I must have a PS3. What sold me? Well, the current price drop got me interested, MotorStorm has always looked fun, a Blu-Ray player would be sweet, Sony is actually encouraging people to use Linux on their PS3s which has lead some Linux distros to specially configure for the PS3 and it’s Cell architecture like Yellow Dog, and the greatest reason: PS3’s huge potential.

I have wanted to learn Linux for a long time, so to have it on a powerful system that doubles as a Blu-Ray player and high-end gaming console is a nice bonus, especially when it connects easily to TVs. And though there may not be many five-star games out for it yet, a lot seem to be coming.

Now to find $500…

Personal Tech Tip: The iPod and FAT32

It seems that more people are buying Macs (or switching to Linux), so here is a tip if you wish to connect your iPod with any computer, with no regard to the operating system. It will take a bit longer for Mac OS X to recognize your iPod, if you have a Mac, but it’s really worth it if you plan on using your iPod with multiple computers.

If your main computer is a Mac, like mine has been for the last two and a half years, you probably have your music and iPod synced with it. A good feature of the iPod is that it can double as an external hard drive, but no Windows computer can read it if your iPod is formatted for Mac use. So what do you do? Find a Windows PC to hook your iPod up to, then open iTunes and select the option to format your iPod for Windows. It will erase all music on your iPod, but don’t worry, your music is still on your Mac (unless you have deleted it all since the last time you connected your iPod, which I doubt). Now your iPod will be formatted with FAT32, which is readable by Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Connect your iPod back up to your Mac and iTunes should open. Now all you have to do is choose if you want this computer to automatically sync it’s iTunes with your iPod or if you want to add the music yourself. Choosing to add the music yourself will allow you to add music to your iPod from any computer with iTunes.

You should check out Yamipod if you plan on using your iPod like I do. It’s a self contained program that you can easily drag onto your iPod that will allow you to browse all music on the iPod without having to install anything. It’s really helpful for when you are connected to a computer that doesn’t have iTunes. It also allows you to copy songs off of your iPod onto the computer you are connected with. There are three versions, one for each operating system; Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. They are small, so it makes sense to put all three on.

One Year Gone

Looking around the blog of my awesome friend, Nicole, I found my old xanga Ivory Shipping blog. This is the blog that I have spent the most time on, but I am unable to import all of it’s old posts to here for record, so if you want to read what I was talking about one year ago you can see it here: Ivory Shipping on Xanga

I can see a definite difference in writing style. I used to use a lot more pre-fabricated phrases. I also used to be more of a goof, though I do think that it’s more entertaining to read. Maybe I’ll stop over thinking every sentence I write, and just let it flow like I did before.

Hockey With Peter

My cousin took me to the Rockets game tonight. They were playing Vancouver, and after a double overtime we won 2 – 1. It was a really fun night. I should hang out with my cousins more often.

Peter is one of those people that have so many stories to tell. He should write a book of his life so far.

This entry isn’t very emotional, more thoughtful, but I listed it under “how I’m feeling” because I needed at least one post in that category or the link on my browse page would break. I didn’t want to wait until I made a more emotional post to add a “how I’m feeling” link for a few reasons, one being that when I have an idea for something, this being a page that makes it easy to browse my entries by different categories, I like to do it while it’s fresh on my mind or else I might forget.

Glowin’ Like The Metal On The Edge Of A Knife

I love this month; thirty one days of enjoying death. October brings visions of ghosts, headless horsemen and young couples steaming up cars with serial killers on the loose. To celebrate all that is October, here is a list of things to keep you in the mood:

Music:
Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies To Paralyze
A brooding masterpiece that is the essence of dark.
Rob Zombie – Hellbilly Deluxe
Self explanatory.
Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell
Bombastic rock gold.
Alice In Chains – Jar of Flies
This music just feels like fall.
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Well, any Black Sabbath album would do, but this is my favourite.
Avenged Sevenfold – Waking The Fallen
Who cares what they are saying, this is some of my favourite heavy guitar work, ever.
The Doors – Strange Days
If you’re in the mood for eerie psychedelic music, Strange Days is a good start.
Marilyn Manson – Smells Like Children
I own five MM albums, so it’s hard to pick just one, but SLC has to be the most suited for halloween. His cover of Sweet Dreams is incredible.
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
Not only is this one of the best albums ever made, it is wonderfully dark.
Pink Floyd – The Wall
In the mood for some progressive rock? Well this epic will surly satisfy any need for sadistic lyrics. One of my top five albums.
Soundgarden – Superunknown
Named after lead singer Chris Cornell misreading the title of the movie, Super Clown, at a video store, Superunknown became a grunge rock epic. The whole tone of the album always makes me think of fall, ripped jeans and plaid shirts. Black Hole Sun is a masterpiece.

Movies:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Some of the most fun to be had in a movie.
The Blair Witch Project
The best horror film ever made, TBWP leaves all the frights up to your imagination.
Shaun of the Dead
So much fun!
Beetlejuice
My favourite Tim Burton film.
The Evil Dead
A classic that proves you don’t need a big budget to make a successful movie.
Army of Darkness
Just watch it. It’s unlike anything that you’ve seen before.
The Blair Witch 2
Not a very well made movie, but I still love it.
Nightmare on Elm Street
Freddy is awesome.
Carrie
Such a classic.
Rosmary’s Baby
Another great classic.
Night of the Living Dead
“They are coming to get you, Barbara!”
Saw
Both this and it’s sequel are entertaining while being somewhat intelligent.
Sleepy Hollow
Yeah, Tim Burton rocks.
From Hell
You can’t get much darker than a film about Jack the Ripper.
Se7en
Intense.
The Amityville Horror
Here is a house that I wouldn’t want to live in.
Poltergeist
One of my favourites.
Hostel
Genuinely creepy.
Grindhouse
Movie geek fun! Funny and original.
Slither
So creepy, yet so very funny!

I have left out many good movies. A second list is inevitable.

In Entertainment News…

I want to start this off by stating that I will not let this blog die. I have had too many and am now sticking to here; unless Blogger shuts down or some new really shiny site comes along and seduces the part of my brain that is a sucker for innovation.

Now to continue, my title suggests that this entry will be about entertainment so lets all trust me and read the following ramblings.

Video games. Hey, I thought it was a good topic sentence, shut up. Anyway, you’ve probably heard that Halo 3 was launched a few weeks ago, so me being a 360 owner I just had to buy it. The first few days I was honestly blown away. The controls are still some of the best for a console shooter and the audio is quite realistic. What really amazed me was the feature to watch back any of the campaign missions or multiplayer games that you played and to take screenshots of them at whatever angle and moment in time you like. They make for some great desktop wallpapers, if you were wondering.

After the fresh smell of Halo 3 worn off I was able to look at it clearly, now having become conflicted, disappointed and still impressed. The controls are still great, the audio still seems very real, and the replay feature still rocks, but it’s the lack of multiplayer features, especially for online play, that pisses me off. In Halo 3, as in every Halo game, you are able to create your own game variants, basically just the rules for the game (ex. What weapon you start with, how many rounds there are, etc..) and it can make for some really fun times, though for no apparent reason at all, Bungie decided to make it a real pain in the ass for you to find other people online who are also bored with Halo 3’s standard matchmaking and want to play custom games. The custom games are usually the best too. Oh, well.

As for Halo 3’s campaign, it’s crap. It’s as innovative as a blue tennis ball. This has been underlined by the recent Xbox 360 release of the far superior Half-Life 2 which, while debuting on the PC three years ago, seems decades ahead of the gameplay in Halo 3. The graphics of Halo 3 are good, but nothing amazing. It’s actually impressive how well Half-Life 2 looks in comparison. I have yet to see a game where the characters are as lifelike as they are in Half-Life 2.

Enough rambling on Halo 3, I’ll cut to the verdict: It’s good. It makes for some fun multiplayer moments and will be a good party game, but the mundane campaign and lack of post 1997 internet features leave a stain on the silk shirt that is Halo.

I have mentioned Half-Life 2 a few times because it was re-released three days ago (as The Orange Box) along with two semi-sequels, a new puzzle game called Portal, and the wonderful multiplayer game Team Fortress 2. I didn’t expect this entry to be so long so I’ll talk about The Orange Box soon, but I’ll leave you with the fact that anyone who doesn’t own The Orange Box is missing out on the best compilation in video game history. It’s worth buying a 360 for. Seriously.

Chad