Christmas Haul 2009

Happy Holidays! No, wait, screw that, it's Merry Christmas! For the past two years, I've given a run down of all the awesome stuff I've been given at Christmas time, but this year, I think I'll also list the gifts I've given to others. Not to show how generous I may or may not be, but just because I like giving gifts as much as, if not more than, I do receiving them. So without further ado, here are the gifts I've given this year, in no particular order:

Lots and lots of Glee: The Music (Volume 1 and 2). Seriously, lots of Glee. No less than 8 copies of each.

Borderlands (PS3). Possibly the best multiplayer game of 2009. I wanted to share that experience with others.

Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360). Yo, Guitar Hero, I'm really happy for you and I'mma let you finish, but Rock Band 2 is the best band game in the world. IN THE WORLD!

Harry Potter 4-6 (DVD). Way better than the Lord of the Rings movies.

Spongebob Squarepants (DS). The kiddies love Spongebob.

Monsters vs Aliens (DS). I love that my niece is a gamer. Now if only I can get her to understand that movie-licensed games are pure garbage...

DJ Hero (PS2). I was very tempted to get a copy of this for myself, but then I wouldn't respect myself in the morning.

$40 in grocery store gift certificates. Part of $210 in gift certificates for the Adopt a Family the call center sponsored. They also got at least 4 gifts for each family member (7 members total), as well as several family gifts.

PS3 Slim bundle. For the Mom gamer who has pretty much everything else.

iPod Classic with home theatre dock. For the music-lover Dad.

Assorted makeup from Sephora. The ladies love makeup from Sephora.

And now, here's what I received, again in no particular order:

See's Candies Assorted Chocolates (1 lb). Mmm, chocolate.

Reese's Peanut Butter Trees. Chocolate = awesome. Peanut butter = awesome. Chocolate and peanut butter = omg so much win.

Sweatpants and sweatshirts. For lounging around the house when it's cold.

Uncharted (PS3). Treasure hunting, shooting people, and crazy acrobatic free-running. What's not to love?

Assassin's Creed (PS3). Sword fighting, assassinating people, and crazy acrobatic free-running. What's not to love?

Harry Potter 6 (DVD). Not better than Star Wars, but still pretty good.

The Guild: Season 1 and 2 (DVD). I heart Felicia Day.

Fraggle Rock: Complete Final Season (DVD). About damn time they release this on its own. It would have sucked to have to get the first three seasons over again in the "Complete Series" box set. But yay! Fraggle Rock!

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Xbox 360). I hear the episodes didn't do too well, financially. Maybe instead of signing an exclusive deal with Microsoft, you should release your content to the whole market, eh Rockstar? Just a thought. That said, I love me some Grand Theft Auto.

An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (book). What can I say? I'm a little gay for Kevin Smith.

The Hangover (Blu Ray). Funniest movie of 2009, hands down.

Inglourious Basterds (Blu Ray). Best non-comedy movie of 2009, hands down.

Star Trek (Blu Ray). I would say best sci-fi movie of 2009, but District 9 was pretty damn good, too. It's a tie.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (Blu Ray). Bruce Timm is synonymous with awesome superhero cartoons.

Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut/Complete Experience (Blu Ray). The best superhero movie of 2009, made even better with the Director's Cut and the Tales of the Black Freighter integrated into the movie, plus Under the Hood and the Complete Motion Comic. A lot of people said Watchmen was unfilmable as a motion picture. This box set proves those people wrong.

That's it. A ton of cool stuff, both given and received. I wish everyone a safe and sane holiday season. Peace, bitches!

D&D Post #7 plus Annotations

Someday I might actually get current with these logs. Not today, though. This is from August.

Same players as last time: David the DM and TB the halfling rogue, Kevin the demon-born druid Alyster, Liz the rat fighter Liz, Trish the half-elf sorcerer who has now been named, but I can't remember it, and me the dwarf cleric Kelgar.

This log is available as streaming audio or mp3 download. It runs about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Streaming:


Download:
Get It Here

Here are the annotations for this session, #7.

“Pizza's on the table!” 10:21 – Kevin was asking David if he thought the OVEN was ready, not the PIZZA, since the pizza was still frozen and sitting on the table.
“I plead the fif!” 19:16 – Pop culture reference, “Chappelle's Show” TV show.
“I'm coming outta the booth!” 31:22 – Pop culture reference, “They're All Gonna Laugh at You” comedy album. This quote is from the Tollbooth Willie skit.
“They should have never given you niggas money!” 50:11 – Pop culture reference, “Chappelle's Show” TV show. From Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories about Rick James. We continue to quote Rick James from the show.
“What's on your shirt?” 50:37 – This is the shirt I was wearing at the time. Buy one for yourself, if you like.
“Why do you insist on mixing shit?” 1:05:26 – Kevin mixed his blueberry juice with a Fuzzy Navel wine cooler. He's kind of a weird dude.
“The yellow sun gives you your power.” 1:28:37 – Pop culture reference, “Superman.” Superman gets his powers from Earth's yellow sun. We continue to discuss the absolute terribleness of “Smallville,” the TV show that focuses on Superman's early years.
“My boss wears a lavender shirt...” 1:37:57 – All true. Infer what you wish.
“Button, button, who's got the button? My money's on the witch.” 1:42:54 – Pop culture reference, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV show. There was an episode where Willow, who is a witch, was invisible to everyone except the vampire Spike. He said that to indicate that he was the only one who could see her.
“It's not even like that, it's more like...” “Hey!” 1:53:08 – David had just smacked Trish in the forehead to demonstrate how the spell Lay on Hands works.
“Mmm, gelatinous circle.” 1:56:31 – Trish was referring to her circular shaped Jell-O mold. A gelatinous cube is a monster in the D&D universe.
“What is your name, boy?” 2:03:15 – Pop culture reference, “Roots” TV miniseries. This was said by a slave owner to Kunta Kinte while whipping him, demanding that he recognize his slave name of “Toby.”

D&D Post #6 plus Annotations

Even bigger delay this time. This track is over 2 months old. Really sorry about that.

Same players as last time: David the DM and TB the halfling rogue, Kevin the demon-born druid Alyster, Liz the rat fighter Liz, Trish the half-elf sorcerer who has now been named, but I can't remember it, and me the dwarf cleric Kelgar. We also have a visitor this time, my friend Sarah from work.

This log is available as streaming audio or mp3 download. It runs just over 3 hours.

Enjoy!

Streaming:


Download:
Get It Here

Here are the annotations for this session, #6.

“Oh yeah, that's me, that's my charming quality.” 3:50 – Sarah snorts when she laughs sometimes. Kevin was not aware of this.
“They have glitters.” 5:48 – Sarah is referring to the sparkly dice that Trish and Liz have.
“It tastes kinda like fruit punch.” 30:48 – This was the first time I had tasted a Rockstar Zero Carb version.
“Watermelon Smirnoff.” 33:04 – Also, wine coolers. Kevin likes the fruity drinks. I must admit, the flavored Smirnoff's are tasty, but they don't really count as drinks in my book.
“That's why it's called role-playing.” 46:28 – I know, I'm a smart ass. But the whole point of role-playing is being someone or something you're not.
“That looks like a deformed Pinocchio.” 54:12 – Sarah had given me a look when Kobolds were mentioned, so I looked it up on my laptop and showed her a picture.
“We are at T-minus...24 days?” 57:09 – Until the start of the NFL preseason. Sarah and I are huge football fans. She likes the Packers and I like the Raiders, and we both razz each other mercilessly about that fact.
“Live Action Role Playing. We don't do that.” 1:02:06 – No LARPing for me, thanks. As I say later, those guys are nerds. Completely socially inept losers. I may be a geek, but I'm not a nerd.
“So when is Tensided gonna launch off like that?” 1:08:28 – I really wish it would, but my high hopes have waned as more time has passed. I keep hearing that the rules are set, it just needs to be organized into book form, but whether or not that's actually going to happen is the big question.
“Oh, that we don't have derby names?” 1:11:45 – Sarah and her friends were/are involved with flat-track roller derby, and they all have derby names, which are nicknames given to them by their derby teammates. Sarah is Miss Informed.
“I go for The Proposal. I made Heath go see that.” 1:18:52 – It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, honestly.
“How do you spell celibacy?” 1:52:13 – He was close, but you spell celibacy with only one e.
“I got a buck...Two bucks...Three bucks.” 1:54:43 – I was counting bottle caps, which happen to be the currency in the post-apocalyptic Fallout 3 universe.
“You have to talk like that over there, because we are the minority at Stagg.” 2:15:48 – I know he says it jokingly, but he's right. Stagg High was very much a melting pot.
“You named your character Ironballs?” 2:33:41 – I don't see why she's so incredulous. I think it's hilarious, and entirely fitting for a dwarf.
“He's totally an asshole.” 2:41:22 – Ah, my friends discussing the depths of my assholish-ness. Good times.

New Movies

There are 4, count em, 4 movies coming out this Friday that I want to see. I'm not sure that's ever happened before. If so, I certainly don't remember it. What are these movies, you ask? Let me tell you.

Capitalism: A Love Story. I enjoy Michael Moore. Call me a bleeding heart liberal (or whatever the nom du jour for lefties is right now), but the man makes a good documentary.

The Invention of Lying. David Brent (Ricky Gervais) and Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner)? Yes, please!

Whip It. Even if I hadn't promised to go see this with my roller derby-loving friend, I'd go see this movie. Hot chicks participating in a contact sport? What's not to like?

Zombieland. This is like the movie version of Dead Rising. I'm so there.

Guitar Hero 5 (PS3) Impressions

Bought it the first day it came out, based on buzz and the fact that by doing so I could get the Van Halen track pack for free. Now, I haven't been a fan of the Guitar Hero games since Rocks the 80s (which, not coincidentally, was the last GH game that Harmonix worked on before switching to Rock Band), but I thought GH5 would bring me back into the fold.

Despite overwhelmingly popular reviews, I find GH5 to be a much inferior game to any Rock Band title, or GH1 or GH2, for that matter.

First off, the track list is varied and hits a lot of songs that haven't been covered in other music games (although there is some repetition with RB). But the career mode makes you play through some shit tunes to get to the good stuff, and there's a lot of really boring note charts. Granted, there are a few gems that are really fun to play, but overall I prefer Rock Band's solid quality charts. Also, the guitar parts (I haven't tried drums yet) don't seem...substantial, I guess is the word, to me. It's like there's a disconnect between me fretting and strumming, the notes hitting on the note chart, and the sound playing in the game. Maybe it's HDTV lag, but when I'm playing Rock Band, it feels solid, like I'm playing the music (in a button-pressing-timing-sound-feedback sense, of course), but I don't get the same feeling with GH5.

Second, the added features don't really do it for me. For instance, party mode allows the game to run in the background, and if someone feels like picking up an instrument and playing, they can drop in to the game, and then drop out at any time. Do people really do that at parties? Maybe I'm just going to the wrong parties. The ability to have two guitarists or three drummers or 4 singers on one song is interesting, but again, is anyone ever going to do that? Online, I suppose, but certainly not locally. Just like Rock Band, there's the option to switch between guitar and bass before each song, but for some reason, the option isn't there when playing with more than one player. Unless I missed it, but if not, that's a severe oversight. I do like open notes on bass guitar, and the individual or band challenges add replayability, but some of them seem unnecessarily difficult while others are ridiculously simple. And why is the default volume so low? Even when the sound options are cranked all the way up, it's still not at the same level as all my other games.

At this point, I've spent about 3 or 4 hours with the game, and am halfway through the game's 85 tracks. In case it isn't obvious, I'm unimpressed so far, and not satisfied I've gotten my 60 bucks worth, even with the gratis Van Halen.

Batman (PS3) Postmortem

I couldn't finish the game in a 5 day rental period. If not for the fact that I'm well over halfway through(I'd say I'm about 75% done), it would be a purchase for sure. The voiceacting is phenomenal, the controls are tight, the story is intriguing and original, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Two thumbs way up.
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Batman: Arkham Asylum Impressions (PS3)

I rented this last night and played for a couple hours. So far, my impressions can be summed up in two words (and this is a good thing): I'm Batman!
Sent from my BlackBerry® on the MetroPCS Network

D&D Post #5 plus Annotations

Sorry about the delay in getting this log posted. We've had like 3 sessions since this one, so I'll try to get those up as soon as possible.

Same players as last time: David the DM and TB the halfling rogue, Kevin the demon-born druid Alyster, Liz the rat fighter Liz, Trish the half-elf sorcerer with no name, and me the dwarf cleric Kelgar.

This log is available as streaming audio or mp3 download. It runs about 3 hours and 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Streaming:


Download:
Get It Here

Here are the annotations for this session, #5.

“His name was Tulip!” 1:07 – Kevin's summoned animals all get flower names because his character has an aversion to flowers.
“Don't you mean 1942?” 2:13 – Actually, he did mean 1943. The PC version was Battlefield 1942, the PS3 version is 1943.
“There's too much fabric to bunch up.” 5:47 – I'm referring to Kevin's now smaller dice bag that Liz fixed for him. While smaller, the bag is almost as wide as it is tall, so the drawstring won't close the bag.
“Stop picking fuzz.” 22:50 – Liz was picking lint off of Trish's shirt.
“Thank Christ it's finally over.” 23:48 – Little did I know that my long hours weren't even half over. After the initial training, we had to provide support to the reps by walking around the call center all day, post-launch of the new system.
“It generates 1.21 jigawatts of electricity.” 27:29 – Pop culture reference, “Back to the Future” film. As I go on to explain, the flux capacitor requires 1.21 jigawatts of electricity to work. The only thing that could generate that much power is a bolt of lightning, as the 1955 version of Doc Brown explains to Marty in the movie.
“Your True Name definitely has an effect.” 39:42 – Pop culture reference, “The Dresden Files” books. Anyone who knows your True Name (which is your full name, spoken from your own lips) can do all sorts of nasty things to you in Dresden's universe.
“Eww.” 45:44 – After one of Kevin's dice landed in the seven layer dip, he popped it in his mouth.
“Who here doesn't like that spell? You don't count.” 48:12 – David had raised his hand.
“Achoo. Bless you. No, man, that's my name!” 53:06 – Pop culture reference, “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” film.
“It's not a tumor!” 1:09:20 – Pop culture reference, “Kindergarten Cop” film. Yes, that's my Arnold the Governator impression. It continues later. Not bad, if I do say so myself.
“Think like a really twisted looking Dr. Zoidberg.” 1:12:08 – That's right, I compared Dr. Zoidberg from “Futurama” to a mind flayer.
“Get down! Get down again!” 1:19:58 – Viral video, “Little Tortilla Boy” comedy bit by Pablo Francisco. Kevin's Arnold impression sounds very Indian, for some reason.
“Dr Tran!” 1:20:32 – Internet meme, “Here Comes Dr. Tran.” Check out the other Dr. Tran videos, too. Especially Quiet Log Time and Summer Splash.
“I almost drank my buttons!” 1:31:49 – David has a jar of buttons that he uses as markers for enemies on the battle map. He was so distraught about how handily the party dispatched the enemies he threw at us that he picked up his jar of buttons instead of his can of Dr. Pepper, and almost drank them.
“I'm gonna turn you into poo!” 1:40:21 – Pop culture reference, “Family Guy” TV show. Chris said this to a food item. I believe it may have been a banana.
“Say Star Trek blows in Klingon.” 1:52:21 – Pop culture reference, “Fanboys” film. One of the Star Wars fanboys asked one of the Star Trek fanboys, “What's the Klingon for 'I'm gonna die a virgin?'”
“Put a spoiler on my Civic it go hella fast, dude.” 2:01:07 – Yes, it's racist, and for that, I'm sorry. I did actually know guys like that in high school, though.
“Man, we ain't found shit.” 2:04:44 – Pop culture reference, “Space Balls” film. This is what the troops “combing” the desert said to Dark Helmet. We continue talking about assholes, which was the last name of many officers on the ship.
“I am not drinking that one.” 2:34:50 – Kevin dropped a soda on the floor while getting it out of the fridge. David proceeded to open it quickly without tapping it first, and it sprayed out, all over his pants.
“I am going to papercut you. Right here, right here, and right here.” 2:39:32 – Kevin indicated the webbing between his fingers, and then the corners of his mouth. Kevin's a sadistic bastard sometimes. I am, too, for suggesting that he then dip his hands in lemon juice.
“No, that's not a knife. THIS is a knife!” 2:41:45 – Pop culture reference, “Crocodile Dundee” film.
“Bite my shiny metal ass.” 2:54:32 – Pop culture reference, “Futurama” TV show. Bender's catchphrase.
“What the hell is this? Who-what-I don't want this!” 3:01:31 – Kevin stole Liz's dice and handed them to me.
“And there goes the teeth.” 3:02:11 – Pop culture reference, “Knockout Kings” video game. In one of the Knockout Kings games on the original Playstation, there was a mode called Slugfest. In this mode, you could sometimes hit your opponent hard enough so that his mouthpiece would fly out. The announcer would then shout, “There goes the mouthpiece!” If, in the same round, you hit your opponent really hard again, white squares would fly out of his mouth, and the announcer would then shout, “There go the teeth!” I wish there was video of this on the interweb somewhere, but I can't find any. Too bad, because it's one of the funniest things I've ever experienced.
“That's a pretty good name for a band. Sonic Lavender.” 3:09:22 – That shall be my band name in the next Rock Band/Guitar Hero/whatever game.

So. Much. Win.

Wow

I suddenly feel a lot better about the Raiders #1 Draft choice (or at least the choice they didn't make). http://bit.ly/qrvnV

Sent from my BlackBerry® on the MetroPCS Network

Twitter Down?!

Ack! Twitter's down currently. I'm bored at work. What do I do? I'm going to have to actually talk with my coworkers!
Sent from my BlackBerry® on the MetroPCS Network

D&D Annotations #4

"Badger, badger, badger." 00:10 - Internet meme, "Dancing Badgers."
"Stupid Bethesda." 6:59 - Kevin is lamenting the fact that the first piece of Fallout 3 DLC for the PS3 was not released on the schedule announced a few months ago. To date, it has still not been released (Bethesda has since announced the first DLC will not be out until late September).
"...currently 3 million people are calling their mothers..." 15:52 - The website I was visiting had a banner ad with a popup video that started playing. Since I can't fucking stand that shit, I will never visit that site again.
"Sword-chucks, yo." 24:29 - Pop culture reference, "8-Bit Theatre" web comic. Fighter thinks the ultimate weapon are sword-chucks, a pair of swords attached by a chain at the hilt.
"Have you seen the animated Hobbit? It was fucking terrible." 27:09 - Well, have you? Here, take a look and get ready to vomit.
"Benicio Del Toro." 28:56 - Benicio Del Toro. Guillermo del Toro. Two completely different people.
"I see. I mean, I don't really see, but I see." 34:31 - David couldn't see the battle map where our minis were in place because there was a bag of tortilla chips blocking his view. Hence the comments about the "Tortilla Tarrasque."
"Now say 'cool.' 'Cool.'" 46:25 - Pop culture reference, "Family Guy" TV show. For some strange reason, Kevin thinks this Cool Whip Family Guy bit is hilarious. I just find it annoying. See and judge for yourself.
"Dude, what does mine say? Sweet!" 49:47 - Pop culture reference, "Dude, Where's My Car" film. A quote from possibly the worst movie ever.
"No. I refuse to hold your sack." 59:07 - Kevin had just offered his dice bag to David. I mentioned a sleeping bag because Kevin's homemade dice bag is gigantic. It probably could be used as a sleeping bag for a cat or a small dog.
"Come back, Dave. Come back." 1:09:32 - The Dave in question being Dave Chappelle. If only Dave would come back for more Chappelle's Show, it would be glorious.
"I'd still be able to put him on my list of things I've burned." 1:21:38 - Kevin actually has a list of things he's burned with his fireball spell.
"It's reflexatory." 1:25:14 - "Reflexatory" is not actually a word. But it should be.
"Hola, cousin Speedy." 1:33:00 - Pop culture reference, "Looney Tunes" cartoon character Slowpoke Rodriguez, he was Speedy Gonzalez' cousin and complete opposite personality.
"This is the Lost Woods, isn't it?" 1:36:00 - Pop culture reference, "The Legend of Zelda" video game series. The Lost Woods originally appeared in the first Zelda game for the NES as a puzzle that required the player to walk in a series of specific directions, or else be trapped in the woods.
"Hey, it's Vince from Shampow." 1:47:12 - Viral video, "Shamwow" parody.
"That still doesn't top Clell Tickle." 1:49:02 - Viral video, "Clell Tickle: Indie Marketing Guru." Hambone is a convicted child arsonist.
"All I wanna know is where the gold at?" 2:01:49 - Viral video, "Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama."
"Da Bears!" 2:03:34 - Pop culture reference, "Bill Swerkski's Super Fans" sketch from Saturday Night Live.
"Hey! Listen!" 2:23:52 - Pop culture reference, "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" video game. Navi is the most annoying fairy ever. Her ever present callings of "Hey! Listen!" have led many a gamer to the brink of blind rage.

War. War Never Changes.

The Vault Dweller walks the Wasteland next January.

D&D Post #4 plus Annotations for #3

It's that time again! Here's the log for the last D&D session we had. Plus, I've annotated the third session at the end of this post.

Same players as last time: David the DM and TB the halfling rogue, Kevin the demon-born druid Alyster, Liz the rat fighter Liz, Trish the half-elf sorcerer with no name, and me the dwarf cleric Kelgar.

Only one part this time, available as streaming audio or mp3 download. It runs about 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Streaming:


Download:
Get It Here

Here are the annotations for session 3.

Part 1
"Ok, monkey man." 29:11 - Kevin was picking up a towel on the floor with his foot.
"Even in the Nevernever." 42:28 - Pop culture reference, "The Dresden Files" series of books. The Dresden Files is like Buffy the Vampire Slayer starring Philip Marlowe, or what you would get if you crossed Spenser with Merlin or Harry Potter with Jim Rockford. The Nevernever is the plane where fairies and whatnot come from.
"No, it's Chris' worst nightmare." 59:25 - Chris was a douchebag who Justin and I used to hang around with in high school. He made a character for D&D that was based on himself. He included his paralyzing fear of spiders and mild asthma, among other things, so he could munchkin his way to a powerful character. Realizing this, Justin exploited it in such a way that after running for his life from a giant spider, "Chris" had an asthma attack, collapsed, and then was caught and eaten by the spider.
"What the hell?" 1:04:49 - David had just finished his soda and then crushed the can on his forehead.
"1 plus 1!" 1:08:27 - Kevin flipped David the double bird, because David had been demonstrating how to do multiplication of 9s on his fingers.
"I notice how your dice just fell down Tetris-style." 1:12:14 - I had my d6s arranged in two rows of 4, but they were split apart in the "z-block" Tetris shapes.
"You've got your ascot, and your flippie-floppies." 1:13:47 - Pop culture reference, "On a Boat" by The Lonely Island.
"Were you petting the can?" 1:47:19 - Liz was making a motion over her Dr. Pepper can like she was petting a small animal. Later, she was smelling my empty can of Rockstar.
"I found a badger scroll on Shiren." 1:49:10 - We talk about Shiren a lot. "Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer" is a DS game that is awesome. It's incredibly hard and unforgiving (if you die, you lose all your stuff and have to start over from the beginning), but very addicting and satisfying once you can make it to the end.
"Tis but a flesh wound!" 1:56:00 - Pop culture reference, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" film.

Part 2
"There's certain things you don't do in life, and one of them is gambling with a Sicilian in a game of life and death." 4:55 - Pop culture reference, "The Princess Bride" film.
"Don't piss on the electric fence." 5:00 - Pop culture reference, "Ren and Stimpy" TV show.
"I have comic ideas on my Blackberry." 10:03 - Yes, I have a list of comic ideas on my Blackberry.
"Want a helmet?" 19:03 - Kevin was referring to his half a watermelon that he had just finished hollowing out.
"The cheese is old and moldy." 21:16 - Pop culture reference, "Encino Man" film.
"Well, whaddya know. It disintegrated." 37:59 - Pop culture reference, "Looney Tunes" cartoon "Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century."
"Yeah, I said Wizard Sight." "Using my Third Eye?" 40:05 - Pop culture reference, "The Dresden Files." By opening their third eye, wizards can see things that are invisible otherwise.
"Speaking of which, I forgot how awesome 'Dead Beat' was." 44:00 - "Dead Beat" is the 7th book of the Dresden Files. In it, he reanimates the skeleton of a T-Rex and rides it through the streets of Chicago.
"Crap, someone fed the Mogwai." 1:26:43 - Pop culture reference, "Gremlins" film. A Mogwai is a fuzzy creature that has 3 simple rules of care: Don't expose it to bright light, don't get it wet, and never, ever, feed it after midnight.
"What the fuck? That was weird sounding." 1:50:26 - Trish's phone was on vibrate and sitting on the table, and it made a funny "woob woob woob" sound.
"Twitter sucks balls. I fuckin hate Twitter." 2:00:46 - Yes, I'm aware of the irony that I continue to say I hate Twitter, and yet I use it all the time.
"Yeah, you're insane." 2:03:46 - Turns out, Kevin's absolutely right. "The Dishwasher" is not, in fact, a Playstation Network game as David claimed, but an Xbox Live Arcade game.

Red Faction: Guerrilla (PS3) Impressions

This game makes me giggle like a schoolgirl. That's not hyperbole. The first time I toppled a building using nothing more than a sledgehammer and a couple of shaped charges, I was filled with a childish joy that I haven't felt in a long time.

Not only does this game make it so much fun to break, smash, explode, and just plain destroy everything, the missions aren't bad, either. Of course, they're centered around complete and utter obliteration of everything around you, but this is very much a 3 am game. In case you're unfamiliar with the term, it's the type of game you sit down to play in the evening, and the next time you look at the clock, it's 3 am.

Ghostbusters (PS3) Postmortem

I finished Ghostbusters today. I'd say it was about 8-10 hours of gameplay total for the single player campaign. I haven't touched multiplayer, and don't really plan to. Instead of talking about good points and bad points, I'm going to just list the bad things that really stood out.

Uneven difficulty. I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Certain parts of the game were cakewalks, while others were exercises in frustration, for no good reason.

Load times. Again, it's so bad I had to mention it again. I don't mind failing missions if I can jump right back in and try again. But waiting a good half a minute to do so, all the while listening to Ray Parker, Jr, is not a good thing. Yes, it's a good song. Yes, it gets annoying after a while.

Save game bugs. While I didn't experience a complete loss of my savegame, the game did somehow manage to lose my scans of paranormal activity and cursed artifacts I had collected halfway through the story. Gamebreaker, no, strange and aggravating (as it cost me some trophies), yes.

That's all I didn't like. Everything else, the controls, the story, the graphics, the voice acting and sound, all spectacular. But that short list of bad stuff (and the fact I finished the storyline on a 5-day rental period) is enough to make this a rental recommendation only. Maybe once the price drops to 30 bucks or below and my homies pick it up too, I'll buy it and get some multiplayer ghostbusting action going. Until then, though, it's just not worth $60.

D&D Post #3

It's almost time for another session of D&D, but first, here's the log from the last one!

Same players as last time: David the DM and TB the halfling rogue, Kevin the demon-born druid Alyster, Liz the rat fighter Liz, Trish the half-elf sorcerer with no name, and me the dwarf cleric Kelgar.

Another two parter. Both are available just as last time, streaming audio or mp3 download. Each part is roughly 2 hours.

Enjoy!

Streaming:
Part 1

Part 2


Download:
Get Part 1 Here
Get Part 2 Here

Ghostbusters (PS3) Impressions

I've played for about 3-4 hours, through the first 3 missions.

It feels very much like Ghostbusters, which is not unusual since it stars all four of the OG Ghostbusters and was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It has enough callbacks to the first two films to feel very familiar, and yet has enough new thrown in to be a solid extension of the universe.

The difficulty level is a bit ragged, due mostly to the fact that the game holds your hand during certain parts, and then lets you flounder in others. Also, load times after failing a mission are absolutely criminal, and I experienced some slowdown - no, slowdown isn't the right word, it was more like stopping - in the visuals during a sequence with darkness and smoke. Stuff like that is almost common place with badly coded PC games on poor hardware, but it's completely unacceptable on a console.

Still, I'm enjoying it, and haven't had a gamebreaker yet. It's Ghostbusters, after all.

D&D Post #3 Coming Soon

There is a new recording of D&D as we had a session on Sunday night. However, I have not had a chance to do some cleanup in Audacity and upload it yet. Soon, I promise!

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D&D Post #2

Here's the next session of D&D.

Same players as last time: David the DM and TB the halfling rogue, Kevin the demon-born druid Alyster, Liz the rat fighter Liz, Trish the half-elf sorcerer with no name, and me the dwarf cleric Kelgar.

This session went so long I've split it into two parts. Both are available just as last time, streaming audio or mp3 download. First part is about 2 and a half hours, second part is about 1 and a half hours.

Enjoy!

Streaming:
Part 1

Part 2


Download:
Get Part 1 Here
Get Part 2 Here

Nathan Fillion is...Hal Jordan

Fan-made trailers usually suck pretty bad, for a number of reasons: bad editing, bad music, ill-fitting stock footage, etc. This one, though, is incredible. It may have something to do with Nathan Fillion, but it has a lot of other great things going for it, too. Definitely one to view in High Quality. Enjoy!

I Love Being Right

Especially when it benefits me. Check it.

Now, I didn't call that on this blog, so there's really no proof per se, but I've held to the belief since it was announced that Fallout 3 DLC was not exclusive for Microsoft, but merely a timed exclusive. Just like Rock Band 2 was, just like Bioshock was, just like GTA IV would have been if it weren't delayed, just like the DLC for GTA IV will be, and maybe, just like the Mass Effect games will be.

Suck on that, naysayers.

Tabletop D&D

Every other Friday night, The Crew gets together and plays D&D. Traditional pen and paper style D&D: in person, around the tabletop, with physical maps, minis, and dice. Snacks, adult beverages, laughs and good times are had by all.

This last Friday I decided to bring my laptop to the game and record the session. What follows is the audio of that session. The Crew members present consist of: David, the DM, who also plays the part of a halfling rogue named Taylor Bronx (or TB for short); Kevin, a demon-born druid named Alyster with a summoned dire bat named Sonic (but christened Lavender by the rest of the group, as Alyster has an aversion to flowers); Liz, a bipedal rat fighter named Liz (short for a name that I can't remember or pronounce); Trish, a half-elf sorcerer who has yet to be named; and myself, a dwarf cleric named Kelgar Ironballs who worships Pelor, the Sun god.

I have made the recording available in two ways: as streaming audio and as a downloadable mp3 for your portable listening device. Warning: this track contains adult language and situations. Listener discretion is advised. Also, as the track runs almost 3 hours, I don't recommend listening to it all at once unless you are incredibly bored, or as big a geek as we all are.

Enjoy!

Streaming:


Download:
Get it Here

Two Sites That I Cannot Do Without

If you work in customer service or any job that interacts with the public on a regular basis, you probably have several stories that would be right at home at Not Always Right.

Also, if you have a shitty day at work or just in general and feel like it can't get any worse, turn to F My Life. Because it can always be worse.

Dollhouse

Oh my god. Dollhouse. Oh my god.

So my hulu queue caught up to the last episode of Dollhouse (of this season, goddammit, it will NOT be the last episode ever) last night, and oh my god.

I ain't spoiling shit, so I can't really say anything other than Joss Whedon is my master.

Jazz/Lakers

Watching the Utah game and I have two observations.

1) I fucking hate the Lakers.

2) It's amazing how the announcers can still speak with LA's dicks in their mouths.
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We Don't Torture

End of Season Wrapup 2009

Most of the TV shows from the Fall are wrapping up their season runs right about now, and it's been more than a year since I gave a rundown of broadcast (and otherwise) TV, so now is as good a time as any for one of these. I'm going to try a new format for this one, though, since I don't actually watch TV on television any more (internet streaming FTW), so instead of by day, I'm just going down the list in alphabetical order.

30 Rock. I'm so glad I stopped judging this show by it's promos and gave it a fair shake. This is one of the few shows that actually deserves all the praise it gets.

Bones. I originally started watching this show only because it had a Joss-verse vet on it (David Boreanaz). 4 years in and while I wouldn't consider myself a fan of the CSI-like procedural genre, I don't hate it on principle anymore.

Breaking Bad. A high-school chemistry teacher is diagnosed with terminal cancer and is concerned about providing for his family once he's gone. What would someone do in that situation? The answer's obvious. Start cooking meth.

Castle. Another Joss-verse vet show, this one's got Nathan Fillion as a murder-mystery novelist who finds his muse in a no-nonsense female police detective. I'm digging it, but there are rumors of cancellation. Goddammit.

Chuck. One of the many things I like about this show is that it doesn't fit neatly into any given genre. It's part comedy, part drama, part romance, part espionage action. Plus, it's got Adam Baldwin. But it might be canceled. Wait, what? Goddammit!

Dexter. Fantastic show. It's also on cable, which means cancellation isn't really an option (since it's already had 3 seasons, and can presumably go as long as it's creators have ideas).

Dollhouse. Sure, I watch a lot of Joss-verse vet shows, but this one is an honest to god Joss-verse show. Unfortunately, it's on FUX. Which means it was basically canceled before it started. I really, really, really, really hope it sticks around. And I really hope Joss never works with FUX again after this.

Eli Stone. This is a show about a prophetic lawyer. And when I say prophetic, I mean in the biblical sense of the word. Ordinarily, I wouldn't give something like this the time of day, but it starred Jonny Lee Miller (from Hackers, which is a guilty pleasure of mine) and Victor Garber (who I really dug in Alias). It totally grew on me and I kept watching. And now it's canceled. Goddammit!!

Fringe. People say it's kinda like the X-Files. I wouldn't know, as I never watched the X-Files. I do know it's unlike anything I've ever seen before, and I really dig it. You know what that means? It's gonna get canceled.

Heroes. There was a bit of a rough patch around the middle of this season, I think, where it seemed like the writers were just trying goofy shit because they could. Recently, they seem to have righted the ship. I'm still pissed that Elle (Kristen Bell) isn't on the show anymore, though.

How I Met Your Mother. This show is Legen...wait for it, I hope you're not lactose intolerant because here it comes...dary!

Jericho. Canceled, brought back by the fans, then canceled again. Goddammit!!!

Journeyman. Canceled. Sigh.

Life. I really like Damian Lewis. I first saw him in Band of Brothers, and he's great as Detective Crews in Life. The rumors of cancellation really piss me off.

Life on Mars. A remake (or perhaps re-envisioning) of a BBC series, Life on Mars is about a cop who gets hit by a car in 2008 and ends up in 1973. Is he in a coma? Is he a time-traveller? Is he just dreaming? Or something else? This was my favorite show of the 2008 crop of new shows. Why do I say was? Because it's canceled. Luckily, the show-runners got the news prior to finishing their allotted run, so we got a proper ending instead of just an unfinished mess. The internet(TM) apparently hated the ending, but I loved it. Still, though. GODDAMMIT!!!!

Lost. Even though it seems like more questions are raised than answered on this show, I still can't get enough. Thank christ it will actually get to finish it's run on it's own terms.

Moonlight. Angel-light, this show should be called. For two reasons, because it got canceled after one season instead of 5. Fuck.

My Name is Earl. Yeah, yeah, I've got a huge man-crush on Jason Lee. Too bad he's a Scientologist. Anyway, Earl rocks, it's gonna be around for a long time, and...what? It might get canceled? Fuck!

My Own Worst Enemy. A double agent: in his own head. Stupid? Maybe. Original? Definitely. Interesting? Hell yes. Canceled? Of course.

New Amsterdam. So there's this immortal...nevermind, it's canceled.

Prison Break. The prison break happened at the end of the first season. Then there was a manhunt. Then another prison in the third season. Now they're out again. Will they go back in? We'll get to find out, but then it's canceled. Fuck!!

Pushing Daisies. Original, quirky, magical, hilarious, darkly comedic, and canceled.

Reaper. Original, quirky, magical, hilarious, darkly comedic, and canceled...maybe. Fuck!!!

Smallville. Trainwreck. But you know what they say about trainwrecks...

Supernatural. If not the best show on television right now, definitely in the top 3.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Terminator. Summer Glau. Canceled. FUCK!!!!

The Office. What the hell is Stringer Bell doing on The Office? Oddness aside, The Office is great.

True Blood. I haven't read the books this series is based on, but goddamn if it isn't awesome. Vampires, hot chicks, and plenty of gore? Sign me up!

United States of Tara. I wasn't sure about this show in the beginning. It wasn't really funny, and I'm not sure if it was meant to be. It grew on me, though, and I can't wait for next season (which doesn't start until 2010. Gah!).

Burn After Reading

After much urging from a friend that I would dig it, I watched Burn After Reading tonight. Not bad, but not my favorite Cohen Bros. flick. That title belongs to The Big Lebowski.

Recommended if you like black comedies and/or you're a fan of the Cohens.
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Mormons

Some Mormons came to my door today. It was a first, actually. I've gotten the Seventh Day Adventists, I've gotten the Jehovah's Witnesses, I've gotten the Evangelicals, but no Mormons. Until today. (funny aside, I typed "Morons" at first. I'm not yet sure if that was a mistake)

Two guys were standing on my porch when I opened the door, which I understand is the norm. They looked maybe 23, tops. They introduced themselves, Elder Dickspittle and Elder Cockbite (I'm positive those were their actual names), and then the first one asked what I had been doing prior to answering the door.

"Just watching some TV."

"Oh, cool. Well, we're from the Mormon Church and have been sent by the prophet blah blah blah."

At this point, the speaker must have noticed my completely uninterested expression and closed off body language, because he asked if they had been by before. My answer was no, so he followed up by asking if I had a belief in God. I again answered in the negative. He looked taken aback.

"No belief in any God?"

"Nope. None."

He stuttered. "We'd like to share our experiences in faith with you, and how..."

"I'd rather you didn't."

It was at this point he realized he would get no further with me, and asked if any of my neighbors would be interested in his shtick. I chuckled at him and thought to myself, "Drug dealers, addicts, and welfare moms? Are you fucking kidding me?" but thought better of it and said I had no idea, he'd have to ask them. I then bid Elders Dickspittle and Cockbite a good night. I resisted the urge to add a, "Hail Satan!" before closing the door.

Testing

This is only a test of mobile blogging. Have I mentioned that I heart my blackberry?
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My name is Heath, and I'm an addict

My drug of choice? Crack.

As in, Crackberry. That's right, I now own a Blackberry smartphone, and damn if it isn't sexy as hell and completely badass. I'm still discovering all the awesome things it can do, but my favorite so far is the instant messaging. It's got AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google, pretty much everything except for ICQ, which is unsupported on my network for some reason.

So the real point of this post (other than to say that I completely heart my Blackberry), is that if anyone who reads it lost touch with me because I dropped off the IM planet, I am now back. Holla at your boy.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS) Impressions

I'll definitely have more to say about this game once I put some more time into it (I picked it up after work and played for a couple of hours), but it's pretty awesome so far. The driving controls are a little wonky (although the auto assist helps), but other than that I don't have any complaints. Plus, it holds true to what one of my Economics professors once told me: if all you care about is making as much money as quickly as possible, sell drugs.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

First off, wow, it's been awhile since I posted to the blog.

So yeah, Watchmen. Step 1: Buy, rent, or borrow Watchmen graphic novel. Step 2: Read Watchmen graphic novel. Step 3: Go see Watchmen movie and bring as many people with you as possible. Step 4, etc. Repeat Step 3 as necessary.

Watchmen is, by far, my new favorite superhero/comic book movie.

Polka Train

2008 NFL Playoffs: Conference Championship Results and Super Bowl Prediction

One more game left in the entire season. It seems like I wait all year for football season, and then it's over just like that. Oh well.

Cardinals 32, Eagles 25

This game was out of control in the first half, until Donovan McNabb brought the Eagles storming back in the third quarter. It was too little, too late, though.

Steelers 23, Ravens 14

Exactly what I expected, except for the final result. A close game all the way, much closer than the final score shows.

2008 Playoff Prediction Record: 3-7

Super Bowl XLIII: Arizona Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Steelers

The Cardinals are like the late, great Rodney Dangerfield: they get no respect. They've got a QB whose career should have been over years ago, a couple of wide receivers who are great on the field, but not so much off of it, and a running back who was cast off a Super Bowl team because he didn't have it any more, even though he clearly still does. The Steelers have the best defense in the NFL, a QB who looks like he's got at least one more Super Bowl in him, and a 2-man rushing combo that's been the hallmark of the last two Champions. I have a soft spot for underdogs, and I'm tempted to pick the Cardinals. Defense wins championships, though, so I'm going the other way and picking the Steelers.

Check back in two weeks for the Super Bowl result.

2008 NFL Playoffs: Divisional Results and Conference Championship Predictions

A weekend of upsets! Here's the rundown for this weekend's Divisional games, and my predictions for next weekend's Conference Championship games.

Ravens 13, Titans 10
The Ravens still have a stifling defense, but they've proven they can score points, too. Look out!

Cardinals 33, Panthers 13
Are the Cardinals really for real? Or are they just extreme overachievers?

Eagles 23, Giants 11
And the champions have fallen! Eli goes home one week after his brother does. Guess we'll have to wait til next year for a Manning Bowl. Here's hoping!

Steelers 35, Chargers 24
The Steelers still have that stifling defense, but they've proven they can score points, too. Look out!

2008 Playoff Prediction Record: 3-5

Now on to next week's games.

NFC

6 Philadelphia Eagles at 4 Arizona Cardinals
A 9-6-1 team goes up against a 9-7 team for the NFC Championship. Welcome to the NFL, where the postseason is almost as wacky as the BCS! The Cardinals simply aren't good enough to beat the Eagles, even in Arizona. Eagles win.

AFC

6 Baltimore Ravens at 2 Pittsburgh Steelers
The Ravens and the rookie QB are for real. The Steelers are going to be tough, and while they beat Baltimore twice during the season, both wins were very close and could have gone the other way. Ravens win the upset.

Check back next week for results and my Super Bowl prediction.

A Tale of Two Sequels

After I finished Fallout 3 (I ran through the story once as a good guy, then got halfway through a second time as an asshole before getting bored) and got my own copy of Rock Band 2, I needed a new game to rent and play. After 5 minutes at the video store, I decided that game would be Saints Row 2.

I had purchased the original Saints Row for my 360 and enjoyed it, even with the bugs and other assorted bullshit. At the time, it was the only GTA-like experience on the current-gen consoles. Since then, GTA4 had hit, and I wasn't sure how well Saints Row 2 would stack up.

Turns out it stacked up pretty well, just for different reasons. Saints Row 2 doesn't take itself nearly as seriously as GTA4, and isn't even half as long as GTA4 (I finished the main storyline in about 24 hours), but it's a whole lot of fun. There were only a handful of aggravating spots, and almost no bugs to speak of. Controls, story, graphics, and voice acting were all great. Thumbs up for Saints Row 2.

Since I was done with Saints Row 2 after a couple of weeks, I needed another game, hopefully one that that would last a bit longer. After checking online, the consensus was that Far Cry 2 was a free-roaming sandbox type game that boasted 60 hours of gameplay. One trip to the video store later and Far Cry 2 was in my possession.

For the first 5 hours, it was great. It took some getting used to, as it's not only an FPS on a console, but getting shot is much more fatal than GTA or Saints Row. Once I tackled the learning curve, though, I was off gathering conflict diamonds, shooting people, and blowing shit up. Far Cry 2 is kind of like if GTA was set in Africa. Go here, get mission, kill people or blow something up, get paid, buy weapons, shoot more people, get another mission, etc.

There was just one problem. In Far Cry 2, you have "buddies" which help you out with main mission objectives and rescue you if you get dropped in the field. Just like you, though, they're very mortal, and if they get dropped, you have to heal them or they'll bleed out and die. Once they're dead, they're dead forever. You can also "mercy kill" them if you don't feel like healing them, but there's absolutely no reason to do that. You don't get any money, you don't get their weapons, and you lose them as a resource. So the bottom line is you should protect your buddies and heal them if they're injured. Which I did.

But then I had a mission where one of my buddies derailed a train and set up an ambush. I was tasked with helping him clean up. Imagine my surprise when I rode up in my truck to his ambush location to find him dead and enemies swarming the area. I went on a hate-fuled rampage and then loaded game, because I didn't want to lose my buddy. Take 2, this time I roll up, only to see him blast a guy, and then two seconds later drop dead. At first I thought someone had shot him, but there were no enemies left in the area, not even a hidden sniper. What was stranger was that he wasn't injured and in need of healing (like would usually happen), he was just dead, game over, end of story. At this point, I was supremely pissed. I really didn't want to do the whole thing over a third time, because from my last save to this point there was a shitload of combat and driving to be done. I managed to reason with myself that this was part of the storyline. I drive up, too late to save my buddy, and he goes out in a hail of gunfire. Sure, fine, whater.

I continue on, now with only one "rescue-ready" buddy, not a mission helper buddy. There's another potential buddy back at base, but she doesn't trust me enough yet to help me out with missions. So I'm rolling along doing side missions trying to avoid the story until I can get another buddy, and I get taken down while I'm out hunting down an assassination target. My buddy rescues me, we gun down the rest of the enemies, and I go off on my merry way. I stop by the arms dealer to spend my ill-gotten gains, then save my game. I go out on another side mission, get taken down again by enemies, and am confronted with the loading screen, rather than being rescued by my buddy.

My Spidey-sense tingles, but I load game. I check my journal, and my buddy shows as "mercy-killed." What the fuck? I didn't mercy kill anyone. Out of curiosity, I check the status of my earlier buddy, and he shows "mercy-killed" too. It's at this point that I realize not only was his death a bug, but this death was also a bug. I had left my rescuer alone in the wilderness, but like all times before it, I expected him to get back safe, and instead, he just dropped dead at some point and became listed as "mercy-killed."

Nevertheless, I was still having fun with the game and soldiered on. I went to the main faction's HQ to get a new mission, but there wasn't one available. Instead, I was tasked with rescuing a prisoner. Ah, finally, a new buddy. I go to the place, gun down the guards, and open the prisoner's cell. She says she's glad to see me, and tells me to go ahead and eliminate any reinforcements. I leave, expecting her to follow. I wait at the main entrance, watching for reinforcements, but none show. I shrug, and get in my truck and start driving back to base. I then realize that my GPS is still showing the rescue target. So I turn around and go back, expecting to see my buddy still standing in the cell or something equally stupid. But there's no one there. Yet my GPS continues to blink, "You're supposed to rescue someone here." I wander around the camp, hoping those mysterious reinforcements will show up so I can gun them down and advance the mission, but still nothing. Furious now, I drive back to base. What a surprise, there's the rescued prisoner. But she has nothing to do with me, because the game still thinks she hasn't been rescued. I rest, thinking that will do it. No dice. "You're supposed to rescue someone here."

Load game. Get rescue mission again, gun down guards, unlock cell. Go on ahead, reinforcements, we'll meet back at base. I lead the way backwards, trying to see if she'll follow me, but she just stands there dumbly in her cell. I leave the camp and return, and the guards have respawned, but I pretend they're reinforcements and gun them down. She's gone from the cell. I return to base, she's there, but I still can't talk to her. I can't take another mission because this one isn't completed. I can't finish the mission, even though I did what I was supposed to do. At this point, I hit the PS button, select "Quit game," eject the disc, and am forever done with Far Cry 2. It took me 9 hours to hit a game-killing bug. Fan-fucking-tastic. Big thumbs down for Far Cry 2.

2008 NFL Playoffs: Wild Card Results and Divisional Predictions

Could I be any more wrong? Here's the rundown for this weekend's Wild Card games, and my picks for next weekend's Divisional games.

Cardinals 30, Falcons 24
Matt Ryan looked like a rookie quarterback, mostly because the Cardinals D-line made a living in the backfield all day. Kurt Warner may not be the future of the Cardinals, but for now, Arizona moves on.

Eagles 26, Vikings 14
Having one amazing rusher doesn't mean much when the other team has a pretty damn good rusher and a pretty damn good QB to boot.

Chargers 23, Colts 17
I'll let Indianapolis' Defensive End Dwight Freeney sum up this game: “Those were the worst [expletive] calls I’ve seen in a long time. To have a game of that magnitude taken out of your hands, it’s just disgusting. It’s not like they made one [expletive] bad call – it’s three calls, in overtime. On one the ball’s 50 feet over [Chambers’] head. And they have the nerve to call defensive holding? When they can’t even call one friggin’ offensive holding the whole game? What’s going on? They need to start investigating some other [expletive].” Well said, Mr. Freeney.

Ravens 27, Dolphins 9
Joe Flacco did not look like a rookie quarterback, but Chad Pennington did. I'm curious to see if any team throws the ball Ed Reed's way ever again.

2008 Playoff Prediction Record: 0-4

Now on to next week's games.

NFC

4 Arizona Cardinals at 2 Carolina Panthers
From beating a team that no one expected to go to the playoffs to meeting a team that could very well go all the way, Arizona's playoff road ends here. Panthers win.

6 Philadelphia Eagles at 1 New York Giants
The Eagles are surprisingly good when it counts, and it's for that reason I'm picking them in an upset over the champion Giants. Eagles win.

AFC

4 San Diego Chargers at 2 Pittsburgh Steelers
Fuck the Chargers. Steelers win.

6 Baltimore Ravens at 1 Tennessee Titans
Remember how no 6th seeded team had ever won a Super Bowl, and then the Steelers did just that 3 years ago? I think it might be time for that again. Ravens win.

Check back next week for results and more predictions.