Ramblings (Sitting On My Ass Edition) + Christmas List Updated

What's going on kids? Yeah, nothing much here either. But I will try to fill in some white space with some words.

I spent a very nice Thanksgiving up in Ojai with the Anne Marie, the Heilveils, four dogs, and another creature that was apparently a dog, but really looked like a breeding experiment gone awry.

What does it say about me that I get along better with those older than me than I do those my age?

When does being young at heart turn into simply being immature?

They demolished a house across the street so they can build a new one. Of course they are doing all this during my current opportunity to sleep in all the time. There is also dust and odd smells constantly entering my apartment. Last night I was overwhelmed by diesel fumes as a semi truck was left idling for about half an hour.

This Facebook thing is working out much better than myspace ever did. Not only did I find fellow high school president/vice president running mate Craig Keim, but Brent Underwood as well. Brent Underwood! Growing up before my parents divorce we were the dynamic duo. We went to the same school and church. My Mom adored the hell out of Brent. Brent has the wonderful distinction of being at my last birthday party that ever involved people outside my family. Below is a picture documenting the event. Brent is on my left. We both had a lot more hair back then. Yes that is a cake with a bunch of army men on there and it rocks. I have no idea who the other kid is removing the army man. Those were some good times. Brent also has a blog that is now linked om the left.

Oh! I picked up Rock Band. Because I am poor I only picked up the game and not the whole package. With the Xbox 360 you can use the Guitar Hero guitars to play Rock Band. This is a good thing because I'm not a fan of the Rock Band guitar I tested at Best Buy. The Guitar Hero 3 wireless guitar is the best by far. How do they compare you might ask? That's a good question. Guitar Hero 3 is a more polished Guitar Hero 2. Obviously it is focused on
delivering the guitar god experience. Rock Band is built to be a mulitplayer game. To achieve the full enjoyment of the game you should play with four friends to play guitar, bass, drums, and singing. This leads to the game being a little lacking in single player. It's not till the last tier of songs that playing the guitar becomes a challenge similar to Guitar Hero. This though isn't exactly a deal breaker because the presentation of Rock Band I think trumps Guitar Hero. I really like the visuals of Rock Band. I love that it gives you a fairly in depth menu to design your own character. Guitar Hero has pre-designed ones that you get to select and some you unlock. Maybe I'm just a little pissed that GH3 didn't include my favorite character from GH2. I love that the crowd in Rock Band sings along with you during the choruses and at the points where a crowd would normally join in. It all blends to create the feeling of being a band on stage. The songs are also a bit more accessible. For example, Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" would be boring playing it on Guitar Hero. Add a few friends though and it becomes a blast in Rock Band. Rock Band also comes out on top for me a little because of the songs you can download. Rock Band already has over 15 songs you can download from artists ranging from Metallica to The Police to Creedence. There are another 15 or more scheduled to be available in the next month. I know this sounds a little like I'm putting down Guitar Hero 3. I'm not. I love Guitar Hero 3. There are just some things that Rock Band does that I would like to see in Guitar Hero. In a way Guitar Hero is for the hardcore, while Rock Band is a little more for the masses. Now I just need to buy the drums once this strike ends and then recruit some people who aren't embarrassed rocking in view of other people. I will say my favorite moment between both games is playing Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time." I get goose bumps playing that on Rock Band.



What else to talk about? Hmm...

Hollywood people seem to be cautiously optimistic about the current negotiations that began this week. I would say I am cautiously pessimistic that the strike will end soon. Can someone be cautiously pessimistic?

I will go ahead and admit now that I really liked No Country for Old Men. I even liked the last thirty minutes that left most people grumbling.

I guess I could do my Christmas list. So you non-family readers can simply stop reading now.

How about a guitar? Acoustic or electric (Fender American Stratocaster.) New or Used. Wait! How about money for a guitar? I don't want to haul a guitar on the airplane.

Xbox 360 Live Points

Mass Effect

Shirts like this or this. (Side note: Damn that model's hair!)

Cardigan like this. I will also accept one in a navy color.

Crew neck sweaters in charcoal, navy, hunter green, or brown.

I'm still debating on this whole vest making a come back. So I tentatively ask for this.

You know I kind of like the new 80GB Zune. One with one of those Zune original designs would be a nice added tough. But I will also accept an 80GB iPod classic or 16GB iPod Touch.

I guess that's about it.

I guess that isn't about it:

Here are some DVD's:

Duck, You Sucker 2 Disc Edition
The Third Man Criterion Edition
Ace In The Hole Criterion
Spellbound Criterion

Some PSP games:

Crush (If you can find it)
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow

Nintendo DS:

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Finally a little lo-fi:

A Diana+ camera with film

Lomo Smena 8M camera with film