The Next Chapter Of My Life Is Underway

Ciao
Bon Giorno
Hello
Ola

How are you doing? Well I hope :) I myself am doing quite well. I mean, not specifically at the moment (lots of pain related to my Crohn's disease) but overall I am doing GREAT, and the recent events in my life which constitute this newfound contentment are the subject of this latest blog post. I might work some in towards the end of this but I cannot guarantee it, so if you're a regular reader hoping to read something that pertains to the main topics covered in this blog I want to warn you right now that this post may offer you nothing of note and as such you may want to simply turn back and return when I post the next update. So, that preamble/warning aside, what exactly has been happening in my life lately that has made me so happy?

Let's go through the list, shall we?

Halo 4: A Non Shooter Fan's Initial Impressions

As any of my readers would know, I am no longer much of a shooter fan. Gone are the days and nights soaked in blood and filled with the acrid smoke of grenades gone boom. Most of my video game playtime consists of me playing XBLA games and RPG's (right now I am playing Code of Princess on the 3DS). When I do play shooters, they are almost always 3rd person rather than first, and also not shooters in the sense of the word I use (think Gears of War or Vanquish). The ones I play are more in the vein of Dead Space and Resident Evil. Action horror games, basically. Those and OLD SCHOOL shooters aka shmups like Geometry Wars and Score Rush.

However, there are those times (usually herbally ameliorated) that I find myself playing a shooter. Usually one of the COD games with friends. Or, in the case of the last few days, some Halo 4 co-op campaign. These sessions are usually fairly fun but inevitably result in a rapid onset of absolute boredom.

Not last night.

What The Hell Is Going on In America? A Crazy, Random Rant.

NOTE: This is an OLD unpublished draft that was sitting on my hard drive. Consider it a TTG'S outtake.

This is a repost of an impromptu forum post of mine from a little while ago. I was posting in a topic about Socialism and the attittudes towards it in America, and as I was discussing that, I sort of went off on an unexpected tangent. When I say unexpected, I mean unexpected, although, in retrospect, this has been brewing for a while. I was likely going to blog on it sometime, but BLAH, out it came onto the page in the middle of this discussion.

I cleaned it up somewhat, although it will still be a bit sloppy and you'll be able to see that my thoughts were jumbled at the time (due to the pain mediaction I was taking).

Anyways, without further ado, here are my jumbled thoughts regarding the state of affirs in America, with respect to politics, and attitudes towards things like Universal Healthcare (ooooohhh, yes, socialized medicine).

Just promise to keep in mind the fact that this was impromptu, and posted while both very sleep deprived, not feeling well, and on narcotic pain medication for symptoms related to my bowel dieases.

Bill (stuttering for the first time in 28 years): P-p-p-ph-pr-pr-p-pPro-Promi-Promi-Promise Me!

Audra: Bill, you're scaring me.

Bill: Promise me you'll stay!

Audra: You're crazy. This is crazy!

Bill leaves.

Audra: It's jusr crazy.

Hey, Global Warming Deniers! We Need to Have a Little Chat!

For you Global Warming deniers out there, I have a few things to say to you:

-Be wary of any research coming out against GW/GCC/AGW/AGCC. Check where it's coming from. Is it peer reviewed, and published in an accredited scientific journal? Or is it not (careful too, as now people in the denier communities for both global warming and evolution are starting to catch on to this and are forming their own journals, and claiming to be accredited and peer reviewed, so always, always look the journal up if it's not instantly recognizable). There's a huge difference between a study published in Nature and one published in some no name journal with author publishing and no peer review. Or ones coming from a think tank. A think tank that, if you do a bit of digging, you will find out is funded by Exxon Mobil and Sean Hannity.

-Be very skeptical of anyone in the media speaking out against global warming, and listen carefully to their arguments/claims. If they are making any that aren't obviously fallacious upon first hearing/reading/seeing them (like Limbaugh's argument from incredulity) look them up. Also, look the person up. Find out who's funding them. Who they work for.

-If any scientists speak out against global warming, pay attention to what discipline of science they are experts in. When a biologist or a chemist expresses doubt about global warming, appealing to that in an argument is nothing but an appeal to authority. Their expertise is not in climatology. Being as smart as they may be, and knowing what they know about their area of science affords them NO special bonuses when it comes to climatology. They're just a layman like myself, and can easily be wrong.

DMC: Devil May Cry Demo Up on Xbox 360 Marketplace

Demo Link

Enjoy!!

(Impressions to come later; it's currently being downloading onto my xbox, a process I must endure before I can dissect this long awaited demo).

The Inherent 'Evil' Within Christianity

This is a comment left by someone named Glen on Ray Comfort's stupid blog:

The better question is have you lied? Have you stolen? Have you hated someone? Have you prostituted? Have you ever born false witness? Have you ever used God's name as a dirty filthy cuss word? And better would you used your mamos name that way? Have you ever had sex with more than your spouce? Have you ever dishonored your parents? Thats right both of them together or independently.
Hitler was just as bad off as anyone living on the plannet including you. He may have done more nasty symptoms of the disease but that very same disease affects you; to your very core.
Ray treats the disease not the symptoms.

I responded to him:

@ Glen:


"The better question is have you lied? Have you stolen? Have you hated someone? Have you prostituted? Have you ever dishonored your parents?"


Have you ever told the truth? Have you ever given? Have you loved someone? Have you not prostituted? Have you honored your parents?


If by your logic, a yes to those means you're a "sinner," then logic dictates that a yes means you're the opposite of that.


So much for your little "disease." Sounds mor elike human experience.


Btw, I feel sad for you. Your religion has taught you to think that you are no better than somone who was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. I cannot even begin to express how unfair that is.


This is why the only sin is belief in your religion. It teaches you to be ashamed of your very nature and to equate lying with murder.


Btw, lying can be positive, parents don't deserve to be honored if they do not honor their children, hate can be justifed (Hitler, anyone?), and prostitution is not inherently wrong. If you think it is, explain how.

See, this is one of the main problems with christianity. Teaching people that they are born dirty, bad, sinful, wrong, evil, etc. All 'sins' are equal. The logical conclusion derived from these two ideas? "I'm a horrible, corrupted person who deserves to be punished and is in need of redemption. In fact, I'm no better than Hitler."

That fills me with so much despair. Such guilt, and for what? FOR NOTHING!! FOR FUCK'S SAKE IT IS PREDICATED UPON BULLSHIT!!!!!!

GAAAAHHHHH!!!! 

Why So Serious?

Why So Serious?

Why the fuck are games so serious now? Back in the day, games were made to be fun. Now, a lot of the time, it seems to be that games are made to approximate the experience you get in a Hollywood blockbuster or whatever. They have to have all of the elements in place that make a big, immersive, “realistic” experience, and while that can be, and often is, great, and effective.....CHILL THE FUCK OUT A BIT! Sometimes I hear the word “realistic” in an interview or read it in a press release and I inwardly groan, because in my view, this often time comes at the expense of fun.

Think about it: “Realistic” means no cheats. No new game+. The restrictions imposed by the rules of physics and such. You know, sometimes it would be nice to be able to jump 30 feet high, turn on no gravity, big heads, paintball mode, infinite ammo, and other cheats, start a game with an overpowered character, and just HAVE FUN. No story, no drama, no rules, no realism. Just quirky, chaotic, crazy fun.

Like the old days.

And yes, I know these games still exist, but you must admit the balance has certainly shifted towards the serious and “realistic.” Take the FPS genre for example. I'm bored as shit with FPS games, and perhaps this realism thing is a part of it (perhaps, I'm not saying it is for sure, and it certainly wouldn't be all of it!). Every shooter seems to be a military shooter with real weapons. How about some crazy jumping, get those reflexes ready, twitch based craziness with completely over the top weapons and abilities? Let's get crazy!

Look at Earth Defence Force 2017: The game looks like shit, sounds like shit, has terrible dialogue, terrible cutscenes, a poor story, broken fucking vehicle control, ridiculous, over the top....well, everything, and it's a FUCKING BLAST!!! It reminds of me of old school games. You start shooting and you don't stop shooting until every last gigantic spider and gigantic, acid shooting out of their asses ant is dead. You use a huge variety of all sorts of fun weaponry, half of which are ridiculously unrealistic, and, get this: the gigantic space alien bugs that you fight drop weapon, armour and health pickups that are represented by a terrible looking 2D icon. I LOVE THAT! Just adds to the old school game/'B' movie vibe.

Realism can be great. Some games are so incredibly immersive because of their realistic and serious tone, but it can get really fucking redundant when they all start being made in a similar vein. Crazy jumps, wonky physics, out of control situations, over the top dialogue, jokes galore, etc. Games are supposed to be fun. I often wish the focus would be more on fun than it is on making the game 'AAA' and shipping 5 million units because the kids got to feel like they were a U.S. Marine for 8 hours.....or at least think they felt like one (they have no idea....and neither do I, but I know a game certainly doesn't approximate the experience). That's the thing, a game will always be a game, so maybe they should keep that in mind.

But maybe it's just me.