The Hard Deck

My Spring TV Dates!

2010-01-05T09:36:00.001-06:00

Jan 10 - Chuck
Jan 12 - American Idol
Jan 12 - Southland
Jan 13 - Leverage
Jan 17 - Human Target
Jan 17 - 24
Jan 21 - Burn Notice
Jan 22 - Caprica(meh)
Feb 2 - Lost
March 4 - FlashForward
March 14 - The Pacific(Band of Brothers 2)
March 30 - V

Gaming Season

2009-11-05T09:13:00.002-06:00

As the temperature drops and so do the leaves, its a signal to me for one thing.

Gaming Season is here.

Starting in November, the holiday season of games starts and runs through the first quarter of the next year. FOr some reason this year, December is void of any real big releases, but November has the true juggernaut. Here is the listing of games im looking forward to from now until spring next year.

November
11/10 - Modern Warfare 2
11/17 - Left 4 Dead 2

December-ish
World of Warcraft Content Patch 3.3 - Icecrown Citadel

January
1/5 - Darksiders
1/12 - Dark Void
1/26 - Mass Effect 2

1st Quarter(no set release date)
Star Trek Online
Alien Vs Predator
Dante's Inferno
Command and Conquer 4
Starcraft 2 - Maybe?

Looking forward to this.

Fall TV

2009-08-27T14:15:00.001-05:00

Time for my annual Fall TV premiere dates! No, this isnt all shows. Yes, its only the ones i watch.

Thursday, September 17
8 pm Bones(FOX)
9 pm The Office (NBC)
9 pm Fringe (FOX)

Monday, September 21
8 pm House (FOX)
8 pm Heroes (NBC)
10 pm CSI: Miami (CBS)

Tuesday, September 22
8 pm NCIS (CBS)
9 pm NCIS: Los Angeles (NEW! CBS)

Wednesday, September 23
10 pm CSI: New York (CBS)

Thursday, September 24
8 pm FlashForward (NEW! ABC)
9 pm CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS)

Tuesday, September 29
8 pm Hell's Kitchen (Fox)

Friday, October 23
9 pm Southland (NBC)

Tuesday, November 3
8 pm V (NEW! ABC)

Tim is a terrible person

2009-08-07T15:31:00.001-05:00

Wow.

15:29] Brian: Tampa Bay Online: Billy May's official cause of death is a heart attack but cocaine in his system contributed to his death.
[15:29] Brian: SAY IT AINT SO BILLY
[15:29] Tim: dude
[15:29] Tim: i can imagine the hilarity of the conversation when he tried to get his friends to do cocaine with him
[15:30] Marrow: HI BILLY MAYS HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS EXCITING NEW WONDER DRUG CALLED COCAINE
[15:30] Brian: lol
[15:30] Brian: you are so bad

Mind Blown.

2009-07-15T12:08:00.001-05:00

Since i mostly "blog" on twitter now, this thing has kind of slowed down.

My dad is outblogging me now. Hes on a roll this summer.

http://jdwaggoner.wordpress.com/

I Told You So

2009-06-25T13:49:00.000-05:00

I guess my rants about movie critics, while i do feel that way, doesnt really matter.

People saw the so called "reviews" of Transformers 2, and apparently didnt care. They wanted to see it for themselves.

60.6 Million in its first day (a wed, too) which puts it in #1 for wed opens and #2 for all time single day revenue.

While im not some crazy Michael Bay or Transformers advocate, i think this really shows that the general public doesnt give a shit what reviewers say and will go see a movie regardless of a review.

What they think of the movie after that remains to be seen, and thats how well see if the movie keeps a high ranking in the next few weeks, a la Star Trek.

I think its easy to see though that Transformers 2 will be the biggest money earner this year. Sorry Trek :(

Transformers 2

2009-06-25T09:24:00.001-05:00

There has been a lot of criticism and speculation about Transformers 2 by the media and so called "critics". I went to see it last night and a bunch of people wanted to know what i think, so ill try to put some initial thoughts down without giving too much away.

Likes!
- Story: Was a very covincing story giving more weight to why the Transformers are on earth. I thought the whole idea of the NEST team was cool, would have like to see them doing more ops instead of fighting with the Obama administration over how they operate.

- Character development between Megatron and Starscream. Showing their rivalry, starscream's shady side and how they both need each other to survive. In the first movie, they were just bad guys. In this one, they are allowed to grow their characters a bit.

- Shia and Megan: Great on screen chemistry. If only the Star Wars prequels had that.

- Bumblebee: The essential figure of the movie, but doesnt utter a word of dialogue outside his radio. Hes so emotive that you can tell what hes thinking just by watching him. Its amazing what the guys at ILM can do.

- EPIC scale battles. The last 30 min or so of the movie is one for the books. Robots, amazing amounts of military hardware, one of the coolest explisions in movie history...so cool.

- Michael Bay: I love his filming style, his epic scale of movies and his no holds barred attitude when doing movies. Noone could make these kind of movies but him.

- Steve Jablonsky's score. With the help of Linkin Park, they did another great job. Its not as thematic as the first movie's score, but fits great in the movie.

- The witwicky family. Sams parents, especially his mother are just plain funny. Love the addition. They were great near the end as well during a very dramatic part as well. Kudos to those 2 actors.

- Glenn MOrshower. While i thought they killed him off in TF1, hes back now and with a MUCH bigger role. Loeved him as Agent Pierce on 24 and his other roles. He was perfect in this as the General in charge of NEST.

- IMAX: the IMAX scenes were incredible. The non IMAX scenes sounded amazing and looked great too. I love how more and more movies are doing this.

- Peter Cullen: Dude is just flat out amazing. His voice gives me chills when i hear him do voiceovers.

- Frank Welker as Soundwave. While its too bad he couldnt voice Megatron, im glad hes in the new Transformers iteration. Guy is a legend.

- Scorponok back, if only for just a shot or 2.

- Jetfire: what a cool way to do some history/exposition. I loved the character and his whole schtick.

Dislikes:

- Character Development: 44 Robots in the film alone. Way too many. Fallen, Devastator, Constructicons, Demolisher, Megatrons group....too many groups of Decepticons. Needed to either tie it together somehow or pair it down.

- Autobot usage: Less Twins, more Sideswipe/Ironhide. Sideswipe got almost 0 screentime talking to anyone. While most people hate the Twins, likening them to JarJar, i didnt mind them. However, Ironhide/Bumblebee/Rachet are more interesting characters, imo.

- Rachet: Love the character, but for another key point in a movie, his role as team medic is never used. Either hes a crapass medic or they are out of their league. I see Autobots getting blown up and hes standing there firing some weak ass gun. YOU ARE A MEDIC, SO GO HEAL.

- Overabundance of Testicle Jokes: Wether its the wrecking balls on Devastator or John Turturro saying "scrotum", i could have done without em. I wasnt offended or anything, just was a bit trashy, imo.

- Political overtones: The bit about the Obama Administration trying to shut down NEST is played out and dumb. Whats wrong with saying, ok, we have this team, its US VS THEM. GOOD VS EVIL. Also, who is Obama to choose if the autobots can stay on earth or not. If Obama wants them gone, then cant another country take them in?

- Length: hate to say it, but it could have been edited down a bit. No need for the whole "Pretender" bit in college. Cut that whole subplot out and youll save a good 10 minutes. I know its tied into some other areas of the movie(aka sam/mikayla tension) but i thought that was kind of forced as well.

Im sure im forgetting things, but thats my overall thoughts. I would love to see it again, and its a day 1 buy on blu ray.

Brief thoughts about the new iPhone 3GS

2009-06-24T14:12:00.001-05:00

Not going to go into big detail since thats been done on about 400 other sites acting like they are blazing new territory, ill break down some bullets of likes, dislikes and suprises.

Likes:

- Speed: Thing really is as fast as they say. Impressive load times.
- Olephobic coating on the screen. I used to be so anal about smudges on my first gen. Now they are almost non existant.
- GPS - Since i didnt upgrade to the 3G phone last year, ive never messed with GPS on a phone. The google maps/traffic integration is amazing.
- Form Factot: Again, since i didnt upgrade to the 3G last year, i didnt know what to think of the new shaped back. I was afraid it would rock back and forth on my desk(where it spends most of the day), but it doesnt. It does lie flat, and the plastic back feels great in my hand.
- Voice Control: As long as i speak clearly, its near flawless for me.

Dislikes:
- Still no goddamned flash support: Seriously? Cmon.
- Still no goddamned background processes: Lets make it happen. Push notifications are kind of a joke.
- Lack of support for old iphone periphs: My first gen car charger doesnt work.
- MMS/Tethering not happening at launch. ATT...whats the holdup?
- Price premium for plans - ATT...whats your problem?

Suprises:
- Didnt think the olephobic coating would work as well as it does
- Didnt think the speed would be THAT noticable
- Didnt think the network/phone speed boost would make me use this phone even more than i already do. Texting, tweeting, emailing, IMing, Facebook, iPod, Weather, GPS. Im pushing this bitch to 11.
- Either there is new audio software/hardware or the new headphones are that much better because basses are clearer and highs are fuller. Music just sounds great.

Using lots of new apps now too. Sirius App is ok, not fantastic, but ok. The one channel i really want (fox news channel audio feed) isnt on there. Beejive IM with push is pretty awesome, but kicks me off AIM about once an hour cause it has connection issues. Tweetie is still my twitter app of choice, tweetdeck is too much app crammed into an iphone. New games - Peggle, StarDefense, HarborMaster, Gridlocked, Let's Golf, etc. Lots to choose from.

Lemme know any impressions.

Hot.

2009-06-24T13:31:00.001-05:00

Man, hot in chicagoland today. Also....if it feels like its 100...then its 100. Dont give me the actual/heat index crap.

Why I Dont Give A Shit What Reviewers Say About Transformers 2

2009-06-24T10:56:00.001-05:00

Im so tired of critics. Movie critics, food critics, art critics, TV critics. Im tired of people who tear down the work of others because they somehow are some kind of expert, even though they havent made anything themselves. Theres a line between a journalist and a critic. A journalist reports objectivly and a critic is all opinion. I love journalists.

Good example of a journalist? Mo Ryan of the Chicago Tribune. Shes a great TV journalist who gives great reviews and interviews of the new TV shows out there.

Bad example of journalist? Lately, Aint it Cool News. Dont get me wrong, I will always thank them for getting me in to see an early screening of Star Trek(2009) with my dad, but Harry Knowles recent reviews, especially about Terminator Salvation...its just become a place where people with no actual accomplishments other than creating a website, sit and crap on the work of other people.

So someone creates something you dont like. Ok. Understandable. I dont like certain things. Does that give me a license to spew vomit, bile and profanity about them all over the internet? No. There is still a code of human decency in the world(at least i like to think so).

So this brings me to Transformers 2. Noone can garner more hate(save george lucas) about their films more than Michael Bay. The man makes blockbusters. He makes big movies with big characters and big explosions. He likes big action and big boobs and big military machinery. Guess what, so does the american(and even worldwide) public. People flock to his movies. Critics tear them apart. Shred them. Eviscerate them. Why? Cause its not the latest movie about a gay wrestler who falls in love with his pet dog or some foreign film about homeless people winning a game show.

If you fancy a self imposed frontal labotomy, here read this review of Transformers 2 by Roger Ebert, the so called "King" of movie reviews.

Cinema is about entertainment. Entertainment is key. Some say its storytelling. Storytelling is a key part of entertainment. If the story is trash, people wont be entertained. That being said, entertainment means different things to different people. While at times i bemoan the american public because of things like jon & kate plus 8, i also am part of the public.

I love Michael Bay's movies. I love all of them. Armageddon is easily my favorite action movie of all time. Its perfect in every regard for an action film. Great acting, great storytelling, great effects. Is it 100% scientific? No. Do i care? Of course not. If i want that, ill go watch the discovery channel. Wait, no i wont. I want to be entertained, not taught.

Transformers 2 comes out today and ill be seeing it in IMAX tonight. While im not expecting to love it in the same way i loved Star Trek(no, not a gay way..ok maybe a little gay) im still looking forward to it. Am i looking to be spiritually changed? No. Am i looking to be moved emotionally? Only in going "DAMN" when theres an awesome action scene. Critics claim Pearl Harbor is Bay's worst film. If thats his worst film, its better than most trash released out there. Paul Blart: Mall Cop? Sex in the City: The Movie? Dunno folks. Dunno.

Critics are out of touch with the general public. The public wants entertainment. Only a small subset of the public wants the kind of "Art" that critics look for. Ask most people what they thought of the oscar winners of the past 5 years. Wait no. Ask people if they even KNOW who won the best picture oscar in the last 5 years. Aint gonna happen.

I cant wait to see giant alien robots kicking ass. Oh, and Megan Fox isnt bad either.

Cant Always Get What You Want - Wait, Maybe So

2009-06-17T14:11:00.002-05:00

I guess AT&T caved.

Tis the generation of entitled whiners. Doesnt impact me, but would be nice to have MMS/Tethering soon too, guys.

Dead Horse

2009-06-11T07:58:00.002-05:00

Not to beat a dead horse, but there seems to be a growing trend.

1. Tech news site posts story about complaints about 3GS upgrade pricing for 3G early adopters.
2. Comments/Response to article is incredibly negative.

Check >>this<< latest digg posting as more proof that the public finds this kind of complaining absurd.

Im shocked to see that people that cover this topic seem to think that the public have anything but complete disdain for people complaining that they cant get a phone at the new upgrade pricing. Ive looked, trust me, ive looked and ive yet to find anything other than one or two commenter who are upset over this. The fact that people continue to report this like its news is ridiculous.

Can we please, for the love of god, report on actual news? Like why AT&T isnt supporting MMS at launch? Oy.

NOOK YUU LUR

2009-06-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

From the macbook user manual.

High-risk activities This computer is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear
facilities, aircraft navigation or communications systems, air traffic control systems, or for any other uses where the failure of the computer could lead to death, personal injury, or severe environmental damage.

LOL. K thanks guys.

Well Done

2009-06-10T09:13:00.004-05:00

As the backfire of 2009 continues to unfold, i was reading my morning RSS feeds this morning and came across this article.

Macrumors.com - ATT Pricing

Well written, not over the top and gets the info across.

As usual, quality info from Arn and crew @ macrumors.

Also, the meltdown continues.

Absolute Absurdity

2009-06-09T13:29:00.003-05:00

So, as usual, I'm going to start this out by apologizing for not posting anything recently. New job, new lady friend, Springtime/summer/birthday/etc...been keeping me pretty busy. Been a great time in my life. As Spock one said "Surely the best of times." Indeed.

As for this blog, its become more and more scary for me. The thought of writing a full length blog entry with the limited time i have, its not very practical. When i have something to write about and find the time to, i will, but when it comes to day to day mundane aspects of life, look for me on facebook or twitter. 140 char micro blogging suits me a bunch better.

However, ive decided to post today because something amazing has happened. I have finally seen something so absurd and mind bogglingly dense, i had to write about it here. Ive been tweeting about it on twitter and responding to the original article. However, before i get into all that, here's a bit of back story.

Yesterday at WWDC, Apple announced the newest iPhone, the iPhone 3GS. Its a step up from the 3G, with a few new features, nothing overly groundbreaking. Neat things, but no game changers. The pricing follows suit of the subsidized pricing ATT/Apple announced last year with the launch of the 3G. 199/299 depending on HDD size. The actual retail prices of the phones are much higher(2x or more) but as an incentive to sign a contract, ATT will subsidize the cost and build it into the cost of the plan. All straight forward.

Well, it seems that there has been some issue taken with some early adopters of the 3G phone that they cant get the new 3GS at the discounted prices, like those folks who either are new customers are didn't upgrade from the first gen iPhone. I can understand disappointment about this, but there seems to be a focal point point of this issue. None other that someone i have known for over 5 years and have worked on several things in that time in the area of Mac/iPod news/journalism. Bill Palmer. He now runs a very successful commentary/news/review/online magazine site focusing on ipod and iPhone news at www.iprong.com. I am a daily reader and think hes a good guy. I like how hes stepped out on his own and followed what he loves to do and made it a career. Hes got alot more balls than i do to take those risks, and i admire him greatly for it. I want to make this clear that i personally love this guy and this has nothing to do with some kind of personal feud. Because when you read some of the things I'm about to talk about, you'd think i ate his cat.

The source of the fire is here:

iprong.com - The war between Apple and AT&T

I suggest reading the article/comments before continuing on.

Ok, all read? Good.

I cant even begin to understand the mindset of people feeling like they are entitled to consumer products. Like it or not, this is a capitalist society. Don't like it? Don't enter a contract. Don't like a company? Find a competitor. There is no entitlement for whiny apple fan boys to get subsidized pricing on new toys every 12 months. That's what an iPhone is. Its a toy. Its not food. Its not water. Its not shelter. Its not a life necessity. If you view a cell phone as a life necessity, then get a prepaid phone. Get a cheap phone. Not an iPhone. Its like saying a car is a necessity and then getting worked up because you cant get a BMW. This is how our economy works.

I used to be a big supporter of blogging and individual journalism. However, lately i am finding i am gravitating away from it the same reason i got out of podcasting. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a constitutional right to speak their opinion. That doesn't mean you are automatically right or can make wild accusations with no backing and say that it is their opinion. Tactful journalism is hard to find anymore. Objective journalism is hard to find anymore. Its harder and harder to find news that isn't slanted by politics or personal opinion.

Its easy to see in this article and its comments how basic journalistic items like "proof" and "evidence" have gone out the window. Claims like the following just blow me away.

"The vast majority of iPhone users I’ve encountered over the past twenty-four hours are in agreement with me on this one.”

Really? That's how we show support for our argument? I could say the same thing and both of us have nothing to show for it. This is a high school argument that offers no proof or evidence of what they say. Ironically, looking at the article and the comments, almost all of the comments go against what the author has written.

Next, its suggested that iPhone customers are being forced to use iPhones under duress.

“So we’re forced to agree to these contracts under duress, and our justice system has reiterated time and again that contracts signed under duress (such as signing while a gun is pointed at your head) aren’t legally valid.”

Can this be serious? THIS IS A CELL PHONE. This isn't north korea and the government isn't forcing you to sell your land. ATT is offering a service. Don't want it? Don't get it. This argument is just absurd!

The article goes on to suggest that apple is a victim in this relationship with ATT because of this. I cant even begin to go into that point. Am i an ATT apologist? No. Am i some corporate lackey who loves corporations and all they do? No. I have one purpose with my energetic responses to this.

Personal responsibility. I was raised to take responsibility for what i do, say and agree to. If i sign a contract, i abide by it. Whether its to ATT, the government, a bank, my neighbor or the neighbors pet fish. That is the point of the contract. If there is a breach of contract, there is legal grounds for someone to file a grievance. But to have this kind of furor and to label ATT and Apple as fraudsters for making people who got the 3G phone pay actual retail price for a new one since they ha vent fulfilled their contract....its just not right.

Slander, libel, however it comes out, its the same thing. Would ATT give 2 poops about this article? Naw. This issue is basically a handful of people crying and screaming into the wind, despite what Bill has to say about it. Nowhere near the complaints that brought the 100$ early adopter credit from 1g buyers. However, i find it slightly odd that someone who makes their living writing about corporations and does so with fan boy like fervor, now sees them as evil and only out to screw people over.

Oh how easy the table turns. Feel free to post your thoughts on it. Agree with me or not, ill post the responses. No censoring here, unless its spam, foul language or other objectionable content.

Hitler Reacts to Abrams Trek.

2009-04-25T19:36:00.001-05:00

I wheezed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9i9N-Ez5Y8

UGH

2009-04-25T00:04:00.002-05:00

Good: Comcast has an HD version of one of my favorite movies, "A Few Good Men" up on demand for free.
Bad: Full Dolby Digital reminds me how god awful the score was for this movie. Would it have been that hard to get some generic orchestral score instead of some idiot with a synt(mark shaiman)?

HD Version looks amazing though.

Auto Tune The News

2009-04-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

Im dying here.

VERY THIN ICE, VERY THIN ICE.

4 People in 2 Hours

2009-04-23T20:22:00.002-05:00

Interview on thurs went well. "Final" interview. I love terms like that. I treat every interview like its a final interview. Whats the point if you dont?

Interviewed with 4 different people in a 2 hr span. Talk about rough. Having to be on your toes with that many people in such a short time wears the brain out. Especially talking about work i havent necissarily done since the end of 2008. I really hope when i do go back to work, im not rediculously rusty.

Things are looking good for this one, though. Its up in deerfield, about 40 min north with no traffic. Traffic on 294 could be brutal during rushour. I guess ill have to wait and see. If it ends up happening, i guess i might be up for a move up north in the future. Kinda dont want to do that, i like being close to my folks and living where i grew up. Im torn about it.

Full week without WoW. Goin strong. I dont really miss the game all that much, and to be brutally honest, MOST of the people. Its rough dealing with the boredom of pulling something out of your life that you spent a good 40 hours a week doing on top of your life. Big open hole. Im managing. Thank god the weather is getting nicer.

Fun time on twitter today discussing the mental/psychic powers of waterfowl. Interested? Follow me on twitter.

Thats about it for today. I think Tim and i might go kill some zombies in Left 4 Dead.

Trek Excitement.

2009-04-20T11:57:00.003-05:00

New Star Trek Movie comes out officially on May 8th. However....being a total Star Trek fan, I've managed to score a few awesome things.

1. 7pm VIP Tickets for my parents and me on May 8th at Muvico in Rosemont. Going to be an a-freaking-mazing way to see it.
2. If that wasnt awesome enough, I managed to get 2 tickets to an invite only screening done by Aint It Cool News downtown chicago on thursday the 30th of april. 250 seats and i managed to score an invite for both me and my dad. Had to write an email to them explaining why i deserved to see Trek before anyone else. Wrote a nice email about how my dad really deserved to see it more than me since he did all the hard work of raising me but used Trek to teach me lots of good lessons on respect, morality and responsibility.
3. Yes. I got the playmates toy of the new enterprise. However, this is the best reason why.

Raising a new generation of trek fans is my new mission in life. GO GO Little Captain Emmy. When she said that the ship was her "FAYYYVORITE" i about exploded.

Cant wait for 4/30. Going to be an awesome night.

Back?

2009-04-20T11:33:00.003-05:00

Its been close to 4 months since my last post. Thats gotta be a new record for me. I like to use this to post funny things, cute pictures, frustrations, etc....but its been a pretty rocky 4 months. So that being that, i decided for my own sanity and those of people who may read these things to let the blog simmer for a bit.

A lot of people say writing is good to get stuff off your chest. That may be true, but the last thing i wanted to do was really talk about what was going on, let alone write about it. I’ve had my outlets, mainly my family and a few close friends.

All that being said, im not sure how to kick off the “relaunch” of the blog. Rather than get into some real self-preachy discussion of the past 4 months of my life, ill dial it down to a bullet list.

- Yes. Laid off at work. No, dont want to blog about it.
- Job market is bad. Unemployment is high. Sucks for job seekers. Great for employers.
- Seems the glut of hiring done since SOX for IT Audit is starting to balance out. IT Audit is the first area tons of public companies and public accounting firms are slashing.
- Recruiters are telling me that top public acctg firms have slashed their IT Audit teams by ~10% or more. Yikes.
- Had a good christmas/new years despite all that.
- Played alot of World of Warcraft. Subsequently quit WoW for good.
- Have started using twitter. Hopelessly addicted.
- Springtime is here, although the temperature hasnt really showed it yet.
- Nieces are growing up fast. So cute!

Thats about it. Trying to keep my head up and plugging on. Its been the wierdest 4 months of my life so far. Hopefully ill have some more insightful things to post here. Its about time to get back to writing...even if noone is reading. For more regular updates, I would suggest checking me out on Twitter. Theres even an RSS feed for you tech junkies. I post alot of pictures, thoughts, etc there.

Talk soon.

Ill Take What I Can Get

2008-12-08T09:09:00.003-06:00

With impending layoffs at work(tomorrow), im tryng to do everything i can do to keep my mind off of it. This weekend, i was a total mess. Couldnt sleep, couldnt focus....not fun.

My main distraction, WoW....been great. wowjutsu.com, one of the guild ranking sites just came out with their first global ranks since the new expansion came out based on cleared raid content. While i knew we were good since we got server firsts of all 3 top 25 man raid bosses(Sartherion, Kel'thuzad and Malygos), i didnt know wed come out as high as we did.

Ranks:
Realm: 1
US Realms: 130 out of 3865 ranked guilds
Worldwide Realms: 393 out of 7649 ranked guilds.

Ill take that. Lots of hard work went into our server firsts. Pretty amazing stuff...then again, the content was relatively easy. We have sartherion 25 down with 1 drake up. Will be awesome when we can do it with all 3 up.

Anywho, back to worry about layoffs.

Apple Love

2008-12-03T10:22:00.002-06:00

Well, I love my apple products, but they have never really known to be that giving. If something breaks, you normally have to pay for it, unless you get applecare.

Last night, i bit the bullet and went to buy my 3rd iphone headset since i got it in june of 07. Not bad, since i use the headphones at work for close to the whole day, but still. The latest one was only 2 months old. One of the drivers in the right earbud died. Wasnt thrilled. At any rate, went into the apple store, grabbed a new one and went to the checkout guy. He asked me if this was a replacement set, which it was. He told me to give him the old ones, which i did. He then said that if your ipod or iphone headphones/headset ever dies, they will replace them for free.

What?

Yep. Free. Just take em in and ask for a retail exchange. Incredible.

So nice to have working headphones again.

Cliche!

2008-11-24T12:15:00.001-06:00

Been busy getting realm firsts in WoW. Not much else going on other than having pneumonia and bronchitis at the same time. GOOD TIMES.

More info soon. Well, maybe not. Not alot of info other than www.stoicguild.org.

What?

2008-11-05T15:43:00.003-06:00

So....all the talk about wall street favoring dem victories and policies? What?

This is the headline i just saw a few min ago.

Stocks Plunge as Investors Ponder Obama Presidency; Dow Falls Nearly 500- AP

If this is "our moment" or our "new day" or our "change", then i dont like where we are going. Saying this isnt a response to the obama election is a bold face lie. Theres no possible way to defend this.

:(

2008-11-05T12:59:00.002-06:00

RIP Michael Crichton. I remember Jurassic Park totally sucking me in as a kid, wishing for a world where that could happen.

Michael Crichton, who helped create the TV show “ER” and wrote the best-sellers “Jurassic Park,” “The Andromeda Strain,” “Sphere” and “Rising Sun,” died in Los Angeles on Tuesday, his public relations firm said in a news release.

He “died unexpectedly,” the release said, “after a courageous and private battle against cancer.”

He was 66.

Why Today Is OK.

2008-11-05T12:53:00.002-06:00

Its back. It wipes away all the angst from last night.

A Warning

2008-11-05T09:57:00.002-06:00

If i hear any words/phrases from any of my friends in the near future, you are asking to get smacked.

Change
Hope
Mandate
Landslide
Recession
History-making
Yes we can
Main street vs wall street

Oh yeah, and the Dow is down 200 at opening. So much for wall street loving Obama.

I wish we could impose a 2 month ban on any political discussions. I think that would do wonders for the country. Way more than anything else right now.

LOL

2008-11-04T10:45:00.001-06:00

Vote for Change.

2008-11-04T08:22:00.001-06:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Nobama.

2008-10-30T14:20:00.000-05:00

Hes Back :)

2008-10-29T10:13:00.002-05:00

Welcome back, Jack. I've missed you.

http://www.fox.com/24/trailer/

WoW Update

2008-10-28T10:15:00.004-05:00

Since im sick of the election, I'm going to focus on some cool WoW news.

Since we beat the game by downing KJ, the final guild rankings on Wowjutsu have come in. We achieved the following ranks.

Realm Rank: 1
US Rank: 179
World Rank: 474

Not bad :D Im really proud of what we were able to do, especially since I joined this guild in a strange time. When i finally made the move to Anvilmar Realm off of Dalaran, it was a big step. I didn't know anyone, the person i transferred with stopped playing, so i was on my own. I made tons of friends there and as things with the guild started to deteriorate, i helped create the guild we are now back in february. Stoic was formed and we have flourished since then, taking the top spot in server progression.

Asros - 70 Holy Paladin

It is very interesting to see how far ive come since moving to anvilmar and even since i went back to my paladin as my main. Here are some screenshots of him as he has progressed over time.

Here is my Paladin when he first hit 60 back on Dalaran.

Here is my Paladin when he initially hit level 70.

My Paladin when we first started working through Hyjal/Black Temple and i had hit 5/5 Tier 5.

My Paladin as of last night, with full t6/sunwell gear(and his sweet new haircut)

Its amazing to see the changes in his gear over the time. Hes become the top geared paladin on the server and ive created a pretty good reputation for myself. I do everything i can do to help teach some up and coming holy paladins the theory that i work with and give them tips and tricks that i know. If you are interested in his gearing/gemming/enchanting/talents, armory links are on the right.

Tyyrol - 70 Enhancement Shaman

In the alt world, my shaman has become pretty legit. I wanted to play enhance, but never in my life thought he would have seen as much content and get as geared as he would. With the 3.0 raid nerfs, hes seen full BT and Hyjal clears, amassed tons of badges and is now sitting at a crazy 3/5 tier 6. Insane. I have to send a shoutout to purifiedtart, one of the players in our guild that runs a great pick up raiding group that helped my shaman get geared up pre 3.0 with 5/5 t4 and the gems to get his 2 badge fist weapons.

Here he is early in his lifetime at lvl 70 in most t4 and one badge fist.

And here he is as of yesterday, sporting his hot new tier 6 level gear and dual badge fists...which just look incredible.

Mavrixx - 70 Shadow Priest

Mavrixx has really taken a back seat. Due to some bad raiding experiences with him at the start of BC, I used him for some daily farming, herbs, etc. he hasnt changed much, gear wise, in the past year, but i thought it would be interesting to see what hes looked like since lvl 60 to raid geared at lvl 70.

Here is Mavrixx as he first ventured into outlands at lvl 60.

Here he is in his raid gear at lvl 70.

And here he is, feeling somewhat festive.

Cant wait for lich king to drop. Im so excited for it. Going to take some time off to level and relax and get ready to start rocking naxx :)

Change.

2008-10-24T11:03:00.000-05:00

Love the Guy

2008-10-24T09:03:00.000-05:00

I love Charles Krauthammer. While i know im not crazy about McCain, this editorial hits the nail on the head.

Charles Krauthammer - McCain for President: "Charles Krauthammer"

Beat The Game

2008-10-23T12:50:00.002-05:00

More info to come soon once i can eloquently put it together. Funny to see how much things have changed in my WoW career since it began a few years ago. From not raiding and dealing with casual guild drama to being the top geared paladin on my server with 2 server first Sunwell kills including KJ. My, how far we've come.

BEST HOLIDAY EVER

2008-10-22T14:21:00.001-05:00

http://theridiculant.metro.co.uk/2008/10/today-is-intern.html

Officially Meh.

2008-10-22T10:03:00.002-05:00

While ive never contemplated voting for Obama, i never really felt compelled to vote for Mccain. I think hes someone who does what the polls tell him to do. That being said, I finally decided on voting for him because the socialist policies of Obama that have come out lately are just too ridiculous to let go. Wealth redistribution? Tax "rebates" for people who dont pay taxes? Sorry. No thanks. Dont penalize people who work hard to strengthen the economy while rewarding those who suck welfare from the system.

Out of control.

Win or lose, i just want this election to be over. Its giving me too much anxiety. I havent blogged lately cause im tired of politics and tired of WoW complainers, so i have nothing really to say. Nothing that big and exciting going on.

Happy hump day.

STRESS

2008-09-17T10:04:00.000-05:00

From Forbes.com list of "Top 10 Most Stressful US Cities"

No. 1 Chicago, Ill.
With 7.3% unemployment and a gallon of gas going for just under four bucks, the Windy City has some economic headwinds that result in a perfect storm for stress. Chi-town’s pollution problems (it ranked No. 7 in terms poor air quality) and lack of breathing room (it's No. 2 in terms of population density) couple to create a Midwestern Molotov cocktail of stress.

Explains alot about my mood lately...

Games

2008-09-15T09:55:00.004-05:00

With the info today that the WoW Xpack is launching 11/13, this is what the fall games calendar looks like for me.

And i thought LAST years was bad...

Rock Band 2 - Out Yesterday
Star Wars: Force Unleashed: 9/16
Red Alert 3 - 10/28 (PC)
Fallout 3 - 10/28
James Bond: Quantum Of Solace 11/4
Gears of War 2 - 11/7
Call Of Duty: World At War - 11/11
Mirrors Edge - 11/13
Wrath Of The Lich King - 11/13
Prince Of Persia - 11/19

YIKES.

/swoon

2008-09-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

I'm In Love.

2008-09-04T10:47:00.003-05:00

TV

2008-09-03T10:46:00.002-05:00

Yes, i know i havent blogged in forever. Ill fix that soon. Been a wild month.

However, Ive had a few people as me for some fall TV premiere dates. This isnt all of them, just ones i watch and my friends watch. So do some super sleuthing if you dont see your favorite stories listed.

Bones (Fox) Sept. 3
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox) Sept. 8
Fringe (Fox) Sept. 9
House (Fox) Sept. 16
Heroes (NBC) Sept. 22
CSI Miami (CBS) Sept. 22
Law & Order (NBC) Sept. 23
NCIS (CBS) Sept. 23
Without A Trace (CBS) Sept. 23
Criminal Minds (CBS) Sept. 24
CSI: NY (CBS) Sept. 24
Knight Rider (NBC) Sept. 24
Office (NBC) Sept. 25
Chuck (NBC) Sept. 29
Life (NBC) Sept. 29
Pushing Daisies (ABC) Oct. 1
Numb3rs (CBS) Oct. 3
Clone Wars (Cartoon Network) Oct 3
CSI (CBS) Oct. 9

Busy

2008-07-30T10:26:00.001-05:00

No posty. Been packing to move.

Pics/info/stories after i move. Things are too nuts.

When im not packing or working, im wowin. Check stoicguild.org for updates since im site admin.

Heartbreaking

2008-07-25T12:13:00.000-05:00

I remember hearing about this when he did this back last year, but never saw the lecture. When i heard he died today, i took the time to listen to all 2 hours of it and its one of the most touching things ive ever heard.

Its terrible to see such a life taken by cancer. Rest in peace Randy, from someone who never met you, you touched me with your incredible way with words.

Randy Pausch dies -- chicagotribune.com

I love dilbert

2008-07-21T09:51:00.001-05:00

So true, so true.

iPhone 2.0 Firmware

2008-07-11T13:33:00.003-05:00

Installed. Messing with apps. The ability to take screenshots is pretty cool.(hold home button and press power switch until the screen flashes. It saves it in your camera roll).

More thought soon.

Out With The Old, In With The New

2008-07-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

Well .mac, we had a good run. You werent the cheapest, you werent the most feature laden, but you were damn reliable and im glad i signed up for it on the first day.

FYI, .mac users...

MobileMe Launch
7/9/2008, 6pm-12am PT

As part of the MobileMe launch, www.mac.com will be taken offline at 6pm PT on Wednesday, July 9th.

Members will be unable to access www.mac.com or any .Mac services during this time with the exception of .Mac Mail accessed via a desktop application, iPhone, or iPod touch.

MobileMe will be available as soon as possible during this maintenance window.

Cant wait to play with it, even though most of the changes have been in use with .mac for a while. The "exchange" system will sure be nice, though.

RIP .mac
Long Live Mobileme.

Apple .Mac Welcome

More Dumb Polls

2008-07-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

For the record, you ignorant idiots...

"Recession - A period of general economic decline; specifically, a decline in GDP for two or more consecutive quarters."

We havent even had ONE QUARTER OF ECONOMIC DECLINE. Every quarter has been growth, maybe small growth, but still growth.

Im so sick of this recession bullshit.

The CNN Wire: Latest updates on top stories Blog Archive - 3/4 of Americans see recession � - Blogs from CNN.com

NOMNOMNOM....your letter is now open!

2008-07-06T19:58:00.001-05:00

DIE.

2008-07-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

ARGH.

Starting Tuesday, shoppers in Cook County will notice an additional bite at the cash register. Chicago shoppers will pay a 10.25 percent tax on some items -- higher than in any other major city in the United States.

ARGH.

Wall•E Thoughts

2008-06-30T16:54:00.000-05:00

I was going to type up a review of wall-e, but my dad beat me to it and summed it up perfectly.

Wall•E - not my favorite film � The Old Gray Cat Speaks - Version 2.0

Reading Comprehension Is Good.

2008-06-26T10:01:00.001-05:00

While i know this case was about how guns are handled in DC, which is under a different oversight than the rest of the country, this case could have had SERIOUS impact against the rest of the country if it went one vote the other way.

While sure, im against criminals having guns as much as the next guy, i hate the idea of legislation of things like this because a small minority of the country cant handle themselves. Also, if guns were to be outlawed, criminals would find other way to kill or find other ways to get guns. Making things illegal is not the answer. Just look at prohibition.

Assault weapons is the same way. Do i see a reason for someone to have an AK47 of M16 in their house to defend themselves? Not really, however, if it is something the country feels strongly about, the constitution should be amended, not a new law made. However, i dont think that the government has the right to judge what kind of weapons someone keeps in their home.

Its a sticky situation, but just like most issues, it becomes INCREDIBLY polarized. The left screams bloody murder and makes anyone who wants to own a weapon to look like Rambo, and the right responds by coming across as haughty and hypocritical by saying things like "the government should keep their laws off my guns", which makes their arguments against abortion somewhat ironic.

Court rules in favor of Second Amendment gun right - Yahoo! News

Im finding myself to become more and more moderate lately, not because i dont agree with the ideals of the conservative movement anymore, but just because for the most part, conservatives do such a HORRIBLE job of getting their message out. Almost as bad as most of the liberal think tanks.

Politics is driving me nuts. Talked to my dad about it last night, not sure what to do in november. Ill have to pay a bit closer attention to Mccain...cause i know the past few times ive read up on him, i havent liked alot of what ive heard/read. What i do know is that Obama scares me. Not cause hes black, not cause hes a true leftist, but because hes been able to charm his way into so many people, but with some really scary policy ideas.

He hasnt really gotten most people to know what his "change we can believe in" motto actually means...just that he isnt Bush. For some, thats enough. Then again, im pretty sure thats the same situation that got us Jimmy Carter. That worked out superbly.

Eh, ill stop my rant...I just never thought that much change in the government could really impact whats going on just because of the incredible bureaucracy...but man, im not looking forward to november, and the following january.

How to Baaaa

2008-06-24T15:02:00.001-05:00

OH GOD THE HUMANITY

2008-06-23T11:36:00.000-05:00

OMGOMGOGMOGMOGMGOMGOMG BIRD ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Male blackbirds intent on protecting turf -- chicagotribune.com

Hmmm

2008-06-23T09:51:00.000-05:00

Not sure how i feel about this list, but hey, i guess thats why they are the experts, right?

The New Classics: TV | EW 1000: TV | TV | The EW 1000 | Entertainment Weekly

Irony

2008-06-16T22:08:00.001-05:00

Flight of the Conchords songs are normally parody songs...but this one hits pretty hard for me right now.

Man, I Needed This

2008-06-16T22:06:00.001-05:00

A snoring duck. Enjoy.

Ive Got...

2008-06-13T10:31:00.001-05:00

Its kinda true?

2008-06-12T15:40:00.001-05:00

[15:39] Tim: weather is a perfect 75 degrees outside
[15:39] Tim: gorgeous
[15:39] Tim: saw a chick eating outside at chevys just now dude
[15:39] Tim: just your type
[15:39] Tim: white
[15:39] Tim: and breathing
[15:39] Tim: perfect

Updating Contacts

2008-06-11T11:21:00.002-05:00

So ive been updating my contacts in outlook on my work computer to keep them updated on my iphone. Now, heres the situation i have.

Outlook @ work - exchange, has work contacts/calendar synced to phone through itunes(when i think to do it).
Mac at home - apple address book(where most of my personal contacts are added)
iPhone - merged data nightmare of doom

So today, i was merging the 2, and all the ones i input in outlook display like ass garbage on the iPhone. Took me 5 times going through and changing the format to figure out why. The issue was that it would display the name in outlook like this

Full Name: First Last
File As: Last, First

However, in my contacts on my iPhone, it was showing up as

Last First - but was sorting all names by FIRST name, thinking it was the last name.

Confused yet?

So, in order to fix it, you actually have to go into the name editor, not the name field where you import it...and change it manually. For whatever reason, outlook imported all the names i was adding manually...backwards.

*sigh*

Hate outlook.

Regrets

2008-06-10T13:33:00.001-05:00

Already kinda regretting transferring off my server with my paladin.

27

2008-06-08T00:42:00.001-05:00

Old.

Ive got toh mah toe on my sleeeev

2008-06-06T12:17:00.001-05:00

Love this show.

LFG

2008-06-02T15:41:00.000-05:00

Anyone need a t6 geared paladin(alliance)? Im on the market.

Yep

2008-05-29T12:07:00.001-05:00

Sums up my feelings on most things in life right now.

Dad makes me Lol

2008-05-29T09:59:00.000-05:00

From an email from him today:

From Obama's Memorial Day speech in New Mexico:

"On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong."

So either he doesn't know what a fallen hero is or he has the sixth sense. If you believe the latter, why in the world would the military dead be attending an Obama rally? That's like a wookie living on Endor.

Nice one, dad. Nice.

Why I Dont Post

2008-05-19T13:14:00.002-05:00

Id say "People have been asking me why i haven't posted lately..." but the truth is that no one asks. I'm guessing this blog has fallen off the radar of most of my college/crowe chizek friends, and I cant say I blame anyone.

Why don't I post anymore? Honestly speaking, its because life is lame. While this post may come across as whiny or emo, this is literally what is going on.

MY DAILY ROUTINE:

6:45 Alarm goes off.
7:00 Get ass out of bed
7:40 Leave apartment to train station
7:57 Catch Train
8:30ish Get in office
8:50 Start checking IM to see if Tim is awake yet and online
9:14 Tim leaves his home for his work
9:15-10:00 Try to find work to occupy myself
10:00ish Tim gets to work and gets online
11:15 Start contemplating lunch options
11:30 Execute lunch option
2:30ish Tim takes lunch so i find myself talking to myself
4:00 Start contemplating train options
4:15 Realize id be a total slack ass for taking the 4:35 train
4:50 Pack up and leave
5:10 Train leaves for home
5:50 Get home - change - make some dinner
7:00 Log on to WoW to do a daily or 2
7:30 Raid invites go out
8:00 Raid starts
11:00 Raid Ends and i spend too much time updating our DKP site
11:30-12:00am Crash

Thats it. Nothing exciting. Some days, just to be saucy, ill get lunch at 1. Talk about spicing up my life.

Woah....long time no posty

2008-05-01T14:48:00.001-05:00

A month between posts. Wow. SO much for trying to top out my post count from last year. However, with this, i guess its quanity over quality. Ive had this blog for years now, and it has gone through many iterations of usage. I originally used it as a "dear diary" of sorts, recapping what i did during the day in college. However, realizing that reading that was about as boring as watching dry paint get drier, i started doing less frequent posts about more important aspects of my life. Who am i? What do i do? What is important to me? What do i think about. Lately...i just havent felt like writing about this. Ive slipped back into a more introspective/introverted funk. What is the root cause? I honestly dont know.

Sure, i was back in the hospital again. Easter sunday, i felt another kidney stone passing. Not fun. It hurt, dont get me wrong, but i knew it was coming, since the doctor told me i had a 90% chance of getting another stone in 6-8 months after i had my first one. Spent a few days in pain and finally thought it passed. The thursday evening after easter, i started feeling really sick. Finally after sleeping all day friday, saturday morning i was feeling horrible, fluish. Called my dad, took me to the emergency room...and low and behold, it was another kidney infection/UTI. Fevers spiking almost to 104 and crap. I was in the hospital from saturday through tuesday. Not fun. I guess i havent really felt about writing about it cause its just BS. Not looking for pity or sympatny, it just sucked.

Things at work havent been real pretty either. Just went through a round of layoffs and i lost some good friends, including by best friend here at work. Joe is a good dude, and im sure hell find a new gig, but good lord did he get screwed. Seems all the good guys get screwed or leave, starting to wear on me. Im not big on bitching about work on her, mainly cause i dont know who does and doesnt read this, but its just a depressing time.

Yeah, still play too much WoW. Its my social outlet. Got good friends who play, especially some friends from college who play too. Its good to keep in touch with them. Do i sacrifice RL opportunities to do stuff in WoW? Probably. Do i care? No. Friends are friends. Putting labels on them as "not real life friends" just because we dont go to a bar in person doesnt mean shit. Im getting a bit tired of that. Maury, a friend of mine from college. I havent seen him since we were both in school, but we both play WoW together. I dont see him...does that make him less of a friend? Man. Sorry, had to rant about that.

Been dating on and off...and i dont know what to do. Either im looking for something that doesnt exist(someone who matches all my expectations), im having terrible luck or im just not date-able anymore. I know that sounds real emo and depressing, but if thats the case, im ok with it. Lately, ive dated women who have been great, but other than ONE GLARING THING that just drives me berserk, they would be great. NOw, i know im no great catch, but still. I cant seem to get over these things that just drive me nuts. I cant help but think that i might just have become jaded and bitter after the string of bad relationships ive had...i sure hope its just a phase, cause it seems like every time i date, something dumb as hell gets in the way. Oh well, i guess ill just keep looking.

Dont feel like rambling on anymore. Will try to post more soon.

My Paladin. Then and now.

2008-03-26T09:27:00.002-05:00

Then. Lvl 60, last june.

Now. Lvl 70 Raid Geared.

Ive been kind of busy.

(Yes, thats 5/5 Tier 5 and Hyjal Mace/shield.)

Idiocy.

2008-03-19T08:38:00.000-05:00

Found this quote on my google start page today. It is terribly appropriate due to some idiocy im dealing with at work right now.

Nothing can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.
- Sidney J. Harris

ROFL

2008-03-05T10:40:00.000-06:00

Leotheras The Blind - Deaths Embrace

2008-02-21T09:51:00.000-06:00

My first stab at a WoW Kill Movie. This is done from my perspective on one of our cleaner kills of Leotheras The Blind.

Music is "I Love You" - by BT...seeing as how it was our first kill with our Warlock tank surviving, and he professed his undying love to us :)

Lack of Posting

2008-02-19T10:24:00.003-06:00

Been a while since i made a significant post. I guess thats par for the course with me, since its really been a while since i have done anything of real significance. Ive been pretty sick with a nasty sinus infection/flu thing that knocked me out of commission for a while. Other than that, been doing some family gathering type things on the weekend for various birthdays and working during the week. Trying to wrap up our first review of the year while dealing with a department thats having some serious transitions happen. Not everything is real fun right now with it. But that is neither here nor there.

Saw Jumper this weekend, the movie about people who can teleport. Stars none other than Hayden Christiansen, which....i guess is ok. The story was ok, the acting was ok and the effects were OK. Nothing really exciting. Was just ok.

Still playing alot of WoW. The initial honeymoon with the new guild has worn off. As time goes on, politics start making themselves more known and affect you more and more. Its amazing how people think just because its an online game, they can treat others like garbage. I know ive had my moments, but man. Some people have total bitch attitudes, not good. I guess if you are a shithead outside of WoW, its going to really come out when you are in a place where you dont have to even face the people you berate.

At any rate, back to work. Blah.

Sad Monday

2008-02-11T08:47:00.000-06:00

A sci fi icon has passed. I remember seeing him first in the first 2 seasons of Seaquest before even seeing Jaws or 2010. He was an amazing actor.

Rest In Peace Roy Scheider -- Aint It Cool News

My Dad is The Man

2008-02-06T10:08:00.000-06:00

Somehow he wrangled an invite to this service and hooked me up.

And let me tell you, its friggin sweet.

FlyTunes - Now The iPhone Is Complete

Get Over Yourself

2008-02-05T12:04:00.000-06:00

Talk about sore losers. Sheesh.

Brady, Moss to miss Pro Bowl

Im dying of laughter...

2008-01-30T16:41:00.001-06:00

More Idiocy

2008-01-30T10:31:00.000-06:00

Good thing i took the 5:10 train, which got me to my station about 2 minutes before this crap happened. Why do all then idiots pull this kind of crap on my train line?

Man pulled to safety before train hits car; Metra's Aurora line commuters delayed -- chicagotribune.com: "The car of an Aurora man, who police said was driving drunk Monday, was struck by two Metra trains in Hinsdale after passersby pulled him to safety.

Commuters on Metra's Burlington Northern Santa Fe line to Aurora experienced delays of as long as 21/2 hours Monday night, and four outbound trains from Union Station to Aurora were canceled, Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said."

Yep.

2008-01-30T08:46:00.001-06:00

0 degrees actual when i left for work this morning. Wind chill of -20ish.

It kinda feels like death?

More Wintery Death

2008-01-29T09:43:00.000-06:00

Man....seems worse this year.

... Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from noon today to
12 PM CST Wednesday...

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from noon today to 12 PM
CST Wednesday.

A strong winter storm is developing over the Central Plains. A
strong cold front associated with the storm will move into
northern Illinois this afternoon. Ahead of the front... rain
showers will develop this morning. As the front sweeps across the
region... winds will quickly strengthen to 25 to 35 mph with gusts
to 45 mph this afternoon into this evening. With the frontal
passage this afternoon temperatures will drop sharply and rain
will quickly change over to snow. The change over to snow will
occur by early afternoon across areas west of Interstate 39... and
toward mid to late afternoon across the remainder of northeast
Illinois. A brief period of sleet is also possible as the rain
changes to snow. Travel conditions will rapidly deteriorate and
become extremely hazardous across the Chicago Metro area toward
rush hour. Any residual ponding of water and slushy snow will
freeze in place... creating treacherous driving conditions. The
strong winds combined with new snowfall this afternoon and evening
will cause occasional brief whiteout conditions at
times across open areas... particularly during evening hours. Snowfall
accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are expected before the snow tapers
off after midnight tonight.

Although the snow will diminish late this evening... the concern
will transition over to dangerously low wind chills and continued
blowing snow and reduced visibilities. Low temperatures tonight
will drop to the single digits below zero across far north central
Illinois... to the single digits above zero across the remainder of
the area. Combined with continued strong winds... wind chill
readings will drop to around 20 below zero late tonight and early
Wednesday morning... with the coldest readings north of Interstate
80 where wind chills may drop as cold as 25 below zero. Blowing
and drifting snow will also affect the area into Wednesday
morning.

A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow... strong
winds and dangerously low wind chills are likely. This will make
travel very hazardous or impossible.

Cloverfield Viral - Love it.

2008-01-28T11:41:00.001-06:00

Nice one, Blizz

2008-01-24T16:45:00.001-06:00

Damn.

Top Selling PC Games of 2007
1. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack--Vivendi Games--2.25 million
2. World of Warcraft--Vivendi Games--914,000
3. The Sims 2: Seasons Expansion Pack--Electronic Arts--433,000
4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare--Activision--383,000
5. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars--Electronic Arts--343,000

More Wintery Death

2008-01-23T13:13:00.000-06:00

...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT CST /1 AM EST/ TONIGHT TO 12 PM CST /1 PM EST/ THURSDAY...

WIND CHILLS WILL DIP TO BELOW ZERO BY THIS EVENING...AND GO AS LOW AS 20 BELOW TO 30 BELOW ZERO OVERNIGHT TONIGHT INTO EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

......yikes.

Idiots.

2008-01-23T09:18:00.001-06:00

Never fails. Someone on my line has to be a complete retarded moron.

DOWNERS GROVE - A motorist was killed and trains along Metra's Burlington Northern Santa Fe line to Aurora were delayed Tuesday afternoon after a train struck a vehicle that was being driven on the tracks in Downers Grove, authorities said.

The train, scheduled to arrive in Aurora at 4:56 p.m., struck a car head-on near the Maple Avenue crossing at about 4:30 p.m., Metra spokesman Patrick Waldron said.

Downers Grove Police Deputy Chief Jim Black said a man was behind the wheel of a newer-model Toyota, which was on the tracks for unknown reasons, when it slammed into the train, pinning the driver inside.

The driver, 29, was extricated and taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where he was pronounced dead Tuesday night.

Meh

2008-01-22T14:11:00.000-06:00

Seriously considering not voting now.

Fred Thompson Quits Presidential Race

Weekend

2008-01-21T10:17:00.001-06:00

Well, the weekend was interesting. Was a nice, relaxing weekend, but good lord it was cold.

I spent all of it holed up in the apartment with the heat cranked up to ~75 because that is the only setting that would keep my apartment above 68. Add on fleece pants, fleece socks and a fleece jacket all weekend, i did everything i could to stay warm.

However, my idiot cat...she has a heated pad. Did she sleep on it? No. She slept in her unheated bed on my desk in my office, where i spent most of the weekend playing WoW. While i appreciate her desire to be near me, sometimes youd hope her animal instincts kick in and shed go, "Damn, its cold in here" and would go get on her heated pad. I have never said Callie is the smartest cat in the world, but she is loyal, so ill give her that.

Speaking of playing WoW...I have been playing on my Paladin as my new main for the past few weeks. I am playing in an end game raiding guild as a healer and i am having a blast. After running guilds horde side, i attempted to do it alliance side after coming back from some time off from wow. I realized i dont want that much responsibility and work, i have enough at my job. When i come home, i just want to play and have as little stress as possible. I ran the guild for about 2 mos, then handed it off to a husband/wife pair who were more than happy to help foster it. I did alot of looking for a good guild that is community based, but focused on end game progression and found one. I joined up after moving servers and am having a blast. It is a PST server, so the raid times are later, so i dont have to worry about rushing home right away to make a raid time. I dont have to be ready to go until about 8, and they only go until 11 local time. Perfect for me. This week, i have seen my first vashj, kael'thas kills and helped the guild down their first boss in Hyjal Summit. Its awesome playing with this guild, great folks, fun and funny.

Screenshot of our first kill of Rage Winterchill. Im the paladin with his wings :D

Back to work though, hope all are doing well.

Oh, also?

LAWL GREEN BAY. Favre, just retire. This was your last shot and ya blew it.

Kinda Wanna Die

2008-01-17T16:14:00.000-06:00

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A WIND CHILL ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT CST /1 AM EST/ FRIDAY NIGHT TO 12 PM CST /1 PM EST/ SUNDAY.

A VERY COLD ARCTIC AIRMASS WITH TEMPERATURES DROPPING AS LOW AS 10 BELOW ZERO COMBINED WITH STRONG... GUSTY WINDS WILL CAUSE WIDESPREAD WIND CHILLS LESS THAN 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.

Blah.

Im running for public office

2008-01-09T12:34:00.000-06:00

Cause apparently, shedding some tears saying how hard it is to run for president will garner you lame ass east coast votes. I can get some big ole crocodile tears too.

*puss in boots eyes from shrek*

Irony of the situation? The person who asked the question to hillary that made her well up voted for Obama. Lol.

Alzheimers

2008-01-09T12:29:00.000-06:00

So, lunch options around where i work can sometimes get kinda old. I dont feel like going far from my building, but so far, it consisted of(within 2 blocks)

Subway
Quiznos
Panda Express(gack)
Potbellies
Corner Deli(sandwiches)
Venice Cafe(italian)
Mcdonalds

So, i was excited when i saw a new restaurant opening across the street. Next door to Quiznos, across the street from subway. What is it?

A jimmy johns.

So, answer me this. What person in their right mind, standing in a vacant storefront, next door to a quiznos, looking at a subway, thought...

"well, there is a deli on the corner, a potbellies a block away, these 2 sub shops right here...but goddammit, we need another sub shop".

Morons.

BLOGGERS IRRITATE ME

2008-01-08T11:27:00.001-06:00

Jesus, do some fact checking.

"Tuesday January 08, 2008 08:44 AM EST; Category: Xserve, Mac Pro
Written by arn
Apple today revised the Mac Pro and Xserve with a new architecture and the recently released Penryn Processors. The Mac Pro combines two 45-nm Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2GHz and up to 4TB of internal storage. The standard 8-core configuration starts at $2799."

Thanks macrumors.com. Too bad they are based off the harpertown desktop architecture, penryn is a mobile chip.

Ha

2008-01-08T11:13:00.000-06:00

Man, if O"bomb"a wins tonite, im gonna laugh my ass off.

This guy is so outmatched on the repub side its not even funny. Let the dems get sucked into their hype, hell get CRUSHED in november.

HYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPE

Nice Attitude for First Post Of The Year

2008-01-07T10:08:00.000-06:00

Why I Hate CES, By Brian J Waggoner.

Is it because of the show itself? Nay. Is it because of the vendors showcasing all their shiny toys? Nay.

Its because every frigging tech blog or news site in the world reports on the same shit as every other tech blog out there. I browse through my RSS feeds of 5-10 different sites during this week just hoping for the love of god that the amount of duplicate stories is lower than before. Guess what, guys, as much as you may hope, your little rinky dink blog isnt the only one in town. Tons of other news sites will report on the same shit you do...and probably do it better.

Man. Not a good start of the year for me. Expect more ranting to come.

Bah...

2007-12-31T20:00:00.000-06:00

I cant count. Fine...heres post 186.

Whatever. Im off to party...by myself? Weeeee...

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T19:59:00.000-06:00

Oh yep. 1 more post than my previous high. Next year gotta top 200 :)

Have a happy new year, all. Im off to florida until the 6th!

New Car!

2007-12-30T22:02:00.000-06:00

Well, 4 years have come and gone with the Equinox....barely. It would have been up on good friday, but i got a notice in the mail that GMAC would waive 2 of my last payments if i turned it in now...so on friday, i went to look and see what the new Equinoxes are like....and i walked out with a new one!

Here are pictures :D

Navy Blue Metallic!

Dashboard

Passenger Side - with sunroof :D

Back Seats

Console - including built in XM!

More info once i get to drive it a bit more :) Nice to have a car without a window crack, doesnt smell oddly like smoke and where all windows function correctly!

Kickin Ass and Taking Names

2007-12-27T00:06:00.001-06:00

Looking for payday loans?

Stick a fork in me...

2007-12-21T10:01:00.000-06:00

Yep...90 minutes and im out of here. No more work until 1/7/08. Cant wait.

Next week, doing the christmas thang with the family, then spending the rest of the week having some SIGNIFICANT "me" time and relaxing the work stress away. New Years Day, Mom, Dad and I are flying to Florida for a nice relaxing week at the timeshare. Pool, maybe some sea world, some disney....just going to let the stress ooze out of me.

I have to say, though...having nieces makes christmas fun. I had such a blast shopping for them and finding toys i thought they would dig. I cant wait till the 2 of them are a little older so i can spoil them rotten :D

Oh, yeah...and im back playing WoW again. The hell is wrong with me?

Pro Bowl? More like Bowl of Sh....

2007-12-18T15:44:00.000-06:00

So, i know the bears were a flop this year, but good lord, the pro bowl selections are pretty bad.

Hester is a gimme. Brendan Ayanbadejo is a gimme. Tommie Harris....meh. Decent. But Briggs over Urlacher? I dunno. Maybe i need to look at numbers, but no Urlacher. Thats some rough shit.

Also...11 Players from Dallas? Man...get over them. I even think GB were under represented.

Lofa Tatupu? What? Other than being my new nickname for my cat...that guy doesn't deserve to be in the pro bowl. URLACH GOT ROBBED.