Sinister

As if I couldn't be any unhappier with Lucas' productions... I recently got a new computer, which of course came with Microsoft Vista (applause). I installed Empire at War, and it ran fine. I then installed the expansion for EAW: Forces of Corruption. I try to run it and I get an "Exception has occurred" error. I contact Lucasarts and ask "what's the deal?" They tell me that my version of the game, which only came out a little over a year ago isn't compatible with Vista, and I have to buy ANOTHER copy of the two games I ALREADY OWN, called Empire at War: Gold Edition. Unbelievable! I find it hard to believe that Lucasarts cannot write a patch to make the game I already bought compatible with Vista. It's not like EAW was designed for Windows 95! My other XP games work with Vista, such as Battle for Middle Earth II. And again, Empire at War works for it, but the expansion (Forces of Corruption) doesn't??? What kind of crap is that? My loathing of all things Lucas has reached a whole new level. Now I wonder, if Rebellion will even run on Vista.

I just finished reading The Devil of Nanking by Mo Hayder. I got this book on Wednesday and finished it the following Sunday. It was one of the most disturbing and hardest books to put down that I've ever come across. Back during World War II, when Japan invaded China, the Japanese army committed numerous war atrocities in the city of Nanking. There was murder, rape, torture, which would all become known historically as the "Nanking Massacre" or "The Rape of Nanking." To this day it is a sensitive subject in Japan, so much so that The Devil of Nanking was not released there. On the story, the main character, an english woman named "Grey", has traveled to modern-day Japan in search of a professor who is a survivor of the Nanking Massacre. It is said that he has a rare film, an actual recording of an atrocity that happened during that time. Grey seeks this because the horror rumored to be depicted in the film can help her better understand her own haunted past. The professor finally agrees to show her the film, but first she must do something for him. Grey's quest will lead her into the Japanese nightlife and its dangerous underworld, which has an odd and shocking connection with the past. Read it.

I just finished a book called Day By Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne. I highly recommend this book. It's basically this military man's personal journal about his survival in a world that has been overrun by...zombies. It starts off with him trapped in his house while the dead are walking the streets preying on the living. It details everything from his plan of escape, to finding other survivors and trying to locate a safe haven. It's definitely a page turner.

Michael Jackson's Punch-Out!

Everyone from the Original Trilogy.

I came across this the other day and said: WTF??? It's not that bad, but you probably shouldn't watch it at work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4yndU6NqUE

I agree with that also. I liked Signs, but the Village was lame. Then he came out with Lady in the Water, which was the worst. I guess he's getting worse and worse... Yeah, I didn't much care for Lady in the Water either. I do like Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense.

http://www.geocities.com/xenogears23/Apologies.jpg

Yesterday I watched Signs and then The Village. I loved the former, but the latter could have been better.

What happens when you mix War of the Worlds with the Benny Hill Show...

I remember that show, and the toys they made of it.

That looks great. I like the new Death Star scenes from the trailer.

I'm sorry to hear about that Defender.

That's looks promising. Hopefully, it will not suck like most video games which are based on movies do. You guys ever notice that? As soon as Hollywood releases a film, some company makes a game based on it, and it turns out to be crap usually. Are there any games based on movies that are good?

Did any of you see Candy? It starred Heath Ledger as one of the main characters. It's a really good, but sad film. I rented it this last summer. It's always depressing to see a young and talented actor or singer pass away so early in their life.

I wonder if this will delay The Dark Knight.

For those of you who want some spoilers about Cloverfield, I will now post them. Behold: First off, they never do say what the monster is nor where it comes from. It is not Cthulhu, as many people believed it would be. The movie does give some possible ideas as to what it is: an alien, government experiment gone wrong, deep sea creature that has only now been seen by humans. As to what it looks like, we get to see it throughout mostly in glimpses. There are a few good shots where you can see pretty much the entire creature. There's even one part at the end where one of the characters come literally face to face with it. It's big, like Godzilla, but it walks around on four legs. In between its front and hind legs are another, smaller, T-rex like pair of claws. The monster also has parasites (giant flea like creatures) that fall off of it and attack humans. Finally, although this does not really explain where the monster came from, it might be a good hint. At the end of the film there is a recording of the main character talking to his girlfriend about a month or so before the events of the movie. If you look in the background behind them you can see something fall out of the sky and land in the water off in the distance. The characters don't notice it and keep on talking. Here is a drawing of the monster and it is pretty acurate: http://www.jacklovesyou.com/misc/Cloverfield.jpg

I found a new copy at my local gamestore, but it was a "Greatest Hits" copy with the red label. Not that that bothers me, but some people are particular about such things. I also saw it at Walmart a while back too. There's a lot of cool stuff in this game and I'm sorry I didn't buy it sooner.

Today I got Bully for the PS2, and it is awesome! For those of you who have never heard of it, it's made by the same people that made the Grand Theft Auto series. It's like being in High School all over again. The game starts off with your parents dropping you off at a private school and you have to go to classes and make the grades and such. However, you can get into fights with other students, break into lockers, play pranks, sneak out of the dormatory past curfew. The schools got its share of students: jocks, preps, nerds, etc. Anyway, think GTA, only in Private School, and less violent.

Well, I went and saw Cloverfield last night and I did like it. How should I put it? It was a "realistic" monster movie, or at least as "realistic" as a monster movie can get. Take Godzilla and mix it with horror elements and what you come up with is basically Cloverfield. By the way, stay till after the credits and listen very carefully. You won't see anything, but you will hear something. It's faint, be ready for it. I would post spoilers but I can't seem to get the tags to work.

I'm going to see Cloverfield tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Epic Boobs X 2 ...Drools...

Yeah, it was really strange. I told my wife if I do it again I want her to start hiding the keys to my truck at night. That way I don't get up and try to drive off somewhere. A couple of years ago, I got up for work and went into the kitchen to make something to eat before I got ready. As I was standing there eating a bowl of cereal I was thinking to myself: Geez, why am I so tired? I usually wake up feeling refreshed. That's when I noticed how dark it was outside and that the kitchen clock said it was around 3 AM. I threw my unfinished bowl of cereal into the sink and went back to bed. I realized what happened was that I was dreaming about my alarm clock going off and got up.

Well, last week apparently I was sleepwalking. As far as I know, this is the first time I've done it. I went to bed around 11PM with my wife as usual. That is the last thing I remember before falling asleep. The next thing I remember is waking up in the dark, while sitting in my computer chair in the living room. I was like "What the hell am I doing in here?" So I got up and went back to my bedroom and my wife woke up as I was getting in bed and asked me what I was doing. I told her that I didn't know, I just woke up and was sitting in my chair. When I looked over at the clock on my nightstand it was about 2AM. Anyway, it was kind of freaky.

I've never played any of the Soul Caliber games, so I don't know much about them. Do the characters in them have special attacks like in the Street Fighter games? If yes, I wonder what they will give Vader. I could imagine one where he uses the Force to lift an opponent off the ground and chokes them till they die. They should really put both characters into each console's version of the game. I wish the would make a new Star Wars fighting game, something better than Masters of Teräs Käsi.