Movin on up

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So after living with roommates for over 10 years, I’ve finally got a place of my own in Arlington.  It’s a newly renovated efficiency in a medium-rise apartment complex down the street from where I used to live.  I spent most of the past week moving stuff from the old place to the new.  Living by myself is definitely worth the added cost.  All I need is for the internet to be hooked up on Wednesday.  In a way, the old tradition of baking a cake and going over to a new neighbors house has been replaced with the graciousness of my philanthropic neighbors who have kindly let me connect to “linksys” or “dlink”.  I love you neighbor!  The building itself is rather quiet (so far).  I wonder if my watching Dark Knight with the volume on full blast Sunday morning was a rude awakening for anyone?  hehe.

First Look: Dead Space

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dead space

dead space

Since I’ve quit WoW, I’ve ended up playing a bunch of single player games that came out recently.  Dead Space was one of the more hyped games to come out so I thought I’d give it a shot and install this huge sucker.

It starts off like a typical sci-fi action thriller.  You’re on a ship sent to investigate a mining station after radio contact went dead.  You are an engineer-type guy, not they typical commando role that these games normally have you play.  This plays a big part in how the game is actually set up.  The suit you wear is more of a utility suit than a battle armor suit and your initial weapon is a welding tool and not your typical “ZOMG BIG FUCKING GUN” type deal.  I also enjoyed the fact that the perspective is third-person over-the-shoulder as opposed to the standard first-person.

I have to say that while the game’s graphics are quite awesome and the creature hitboxes are complex, I’m not really getting into it at all.  Of course, I’ve only played the initial chapter (I won’t ruin anything with spoilers) so there is probably a lot that I’ve not seen yet.  There are some pretty tense “GOTCHA” moments and some awesome scenery, but nothing’s really captured my long-term attention.  Maybe I’ll change my mind as I continue playing, but I still think it’s definitely worth checking out.

The aftermath

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repocrats

repocrats

 So after this election, after the joys, after the celebrations, after the parties, what are we left with?  A big void until the inauguration in January.  The hope and momentum of the Obama campaign will slowly die down in the next couple of weeks while the anger and frustration of the disenfranchised Republicans will probably last the next 4 to 8 years.  Right now, everyone is just wondering what will happen next.  Will Obama be able to bring about the change he promised?  Will he be able to fix the economy?  Will he bring the troops back from Iraq, just to send them right back to Afghanistan?  

Everyone has ideas of what they think Obama will bring and honestly, that is because so many people have been waiting for a moment like this.  The liberals weren’t too happy with Clinton as he left office, and I don’t think I have to talk about how half the country felt cheated with the Bush/Gore election of 2000.  Then there was the resounding defeat of Kerry by Bush in 2004 which many just could not believe happened.  The left has waited a long time for this election.  However, that long wait has just exacerbated what they think they “need” in this Obama administration.  

I guarantee some people will be disappointed.  I don’t say that because I think Obama will make mistakes (but he’s just a normal guy like you and me, so yea, he’s gotta make a few).  I say that because it’s just impossible for him to meet the demands and dreams of every citizen in this country.  I’m curious myself to see how much “change” he can bring about.  I’d like to see something done about the economy.  I’d like to see something being done about the large special interest groups having the power that they do in Washington.  I’d like to see something being done about the War on Terror and the War on Drugs.  I’d like to see a lot of things.  Do I think I’ll see anything?  Yea, I do.  But I’m optimistic.  Always have been.  That’s partially the reason I supported Obama.  I do believe in bringing about practical change.  If anything, I do think he has changed the landscape for elections and political organizing on the national level for years to come.  I don’t want this idealistic “change” that the nay-sayers keep throwing out in their petulent arguments (eg.  ”socialism!” “mandatory government service!” etc.)  All I want is some “change” I can believe in.  And I think Obama will do his best to do it.

YES WE DID!!!

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YES WE CAN!  YES WE DID!  Thank you to everyone for not being stupid!  I was really worried about living in a country full of idiots, but I now have some hope =)  Let’s just hope Obama actually does something now.  Let’s see what “change” he can actually produce.

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Halloween Antics

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me and judy

me and judy

For this year’s Halloween, I got dressed up as a zombie butcher and Judy went as the zombie mouse that I found and killed in my kitchen.  Brad and Nicole’s party, dubbed the Butcher Shop, was an insane blast as usual.  They split the party up into groups at the beginning and sent us off on a video scavenger hunt around Fairfax.  I think one of the highlights of the night was when we had to “dance on a grave”!  Try finding a graveyard at 10pm and figuring out how to get sufficient lighting to get the dancing on video!  I’ll try and upload some of the video footage to show off some of the funnier scavenger hunt moments (eg.  Singing “Monster Mash” inside a Wendy’s with help from the employees, walking around like zombies in a grocery store, recreating a scene from a horror movie, etc).

group photo

group photo

Tonight, we attended a small potluck get together with some of Judy’s friends.  We brought a really awesome chili that was reminiscent of Cincinatti-style chili but with a hint of chocolate along with some cornbread.  There was some crazy strong sangria there along with a tub of tiramisu, chicken, and spiced apple cider (oh god I love apple cider).  All in all, it was a great Halloween!

chili and cornbread

chili and cornbread

group photo

group photo

New on TV: True Blood

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Since one of my current animes, D. Gray-man, has ended its season, I’ve been looking for something to fill the void and came across True Blood, a new show about vampires. The premise is interesting: Vampires have “come out of the closet” and revealed themselves to humanity in our modern day world which leads to some interesting changes in society. They have their own TV channel called VTV. Having sex with a vampire, also known as “fang banging”, is quickly becoming the new risque thing to do. Vampire blood, known on the street simply as “V” is better than crack, heroin, and coke combined. And of course, with anything new coming into society, there is always a sense of xenophobia against the newly socialized vampires.

sookie

The show touches upon a multitude of topics, but the main ones tend to be prejudice (human vs vampire, white vs black, rich vs poor, etc) and sex. The only real disappointment (but it’s a big one) is the quality of acting by the main character, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin aka. Rogue from the X-Men movies). Not to sound trite, but she couldn’t act her way out of a wet paper bag. The story is enough to bring me back week after week though, so we’ll see how it turns out by the end of the season. If you’re bored and looking to get into a new show that’s a bit edgy, I say check this one out.

Fallout 3: Brief First Impressions

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fallout3 head shot off!

Having never played either Fallout 1 or 2, I’m basically starting Fallout 3 oblivious to the inside jokes and references that Bethesda has included in their latest game. But that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying what I’ve played so far! Coming from Bethesda, the game definitely reminds me of Oblivion in terms of the feel and UI. I remember seeing screenshots of the earlier two games, and I’m glad they chose to move from the top-down-at-an-angle perspective to first-person.

One thing I liked off the bat was how they integrated the character creation process with the storyline (if you haven’t played it yet, you’ll see what I mean). It gives it more of that RPG feel, but I sense it could get annoying after multiple game starts. The first level, Vault 101, is your typical get-to-know-the-game type setting where you’re expected to do quick and easy missions in order to familiarize yourself with the UI and game mechanics. I also noticed that the game responded to your situational decisions offering multiple paths for different choices. If you kill a particular person, the storyline is somewhat affected and that gives a good illusion of non-linear play. I haven’t gotten too far yet so we’ll see how far that “non-linearity” goes further into the game. I didn’t have much time to play, so I stopped about when I reached Megaton, a main city in the game outside the vault in the wastelands. Hopefully this weekend will give me more time to mess around and try things out for a better review.