GH3 First Impressions

The Cons

• Too many startup 'movies.' In the previous versions of GH, you only had to click once to get through all of the little developer movies at the beginning of the game. Now you have to click through each one individually. This feels like a "Microsoft Move" to me.
• The characters are in this strange middle ground where they don't look so cartoony as before, but they also don't look very real. This really isn't that big of a deal except for one thing:
• The singer. I'm convinced that he is the reason for the Teen rating on the game. He looks like he eats babies.
• The songs seem more rhythmic. Yeah, there are too many songs (in my opinion) where you are playing "chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk,..." on your guitar, rather than fun melodic figures. I find these songs less rewarding and more "video game" like.
• This one feels more "video game" like. Some of the rhythmic figures seem really ticky-tack to me, kind of like those stupid one brick platforms in Super Mario Bros. that never failed to screw me over as a kid. I guess I'll get over this one.
• There is a flashing on the "Shanker's Island" stage that can be really distracting until you get used to it.
• After every 50 notes in a streak, a message pops up on the screen congratulating you, which invariably causes me to lose my streak. I like the counter (see below) much better.
  
• The new controller. The good is they made the strum bar softer, but the new "more accurate" fret buttons are way too loud. Plus they are a bit over-sensitive, if you ask me. I miss more notes with that controller than with my other wireless. Perhaps some tweaking will be required... (stay posted for that one).

The Neutral

• The little cartoons in career mode. It's like being in a Gorillaz video. It would've been kind of cool if the in game animations were like this.
• The sound balance seems a bit weird to me. I can probably fix that one in the settings, though, so it gets put here with the neutrals.
• The new menus. I kind of like the old ones better, but I'm glad they didn't just change the colors a la Rocks the 80's.
• Whammy bar calibration. I spent about 5 minutes playing with this, but I couldn't make much sense out of it. Perhaps I'm stupid.
  
• The new star power meter. It's not quite as clear at a quick glance how much star power you have, since you have to interpret the brightness of a bulb along with how many.
  

The Good

• Hammer-ons and pull-offs are easier. Very nice.
• The star power animation is much smoother, meaning my tendency to miss the first note after engaging star power has gone down.
• Clicky, over-sensitive buttons aside, I love the feel of the new controller. And the breakaway neck (and the new on/off switch, for some reason).
  
• The battle mode is pretty fun. Beating Slash (after he had beaten me) was surprisingly satisfying.
• The Master Tracks are really fun to play.
• After about a 30 note streak, a streak counter appears. That can be pretty cool.
• Most importantly, the gameplay is pretty much the same as it always has been. Excellent.
  

Too bad I already have a costume...

...and I'm not a kid, oh, and I don't want to be a delivery person for Halloween.

Found in a recent email was an offer FreshDirect for a kids FreshDirect delivery person costume. Don't get me wrong, the FD delivery men (never seen a woman) that come to my house are really nice, but I don't think any self-respecting kid is going to go for this when they can be... pretty much anything else.

Check it out for yourself over at FD.

Revenge of the Granola Guru

This may easily be the least popular post I've ever done, but that's not really saying much.

When I was living in Utah, one of the things that bugged me the most was the general disregard that the people had for the environment. Yeah, so I grew up in Seattle, so I'm probably a bit over-sensitive to this subject, but still - I seemed to run into my fair share of people who figured that since God had given them this land, they could do whatever they wanted to it. Personally, I take exception to this view. During a bioethics course at BYU, a professor told us that the biblical injunction, "let them have dominion over... all the earth," (Gen. 1:26) might better be translated as, "let them have stewardship over... all the earth." I don't really know where this comes from, and I wouldn't even imagine teaching this in a Sunday School lesson, but I do think that the idea fits with the teachings of the LDS Church very nicely. Therefore, it is my personal belief that I should be as good a steward when it comes to things of this earth, being responsible in what I use and how I use it, as I try to be in all other aspects of my life.

Don't get me wrong, I still have some wasteful practices, and I'm not encouraging anyone to sell their belongings and move into some geodesic dome populated by hippies and hempsters. No, I guess the purpose of this post is to make sure you all know that there are some really easy things that each one of us can do to make things a bit greener (cue sappy music and after school special title card). I'm sure most of you have heard about these things, and maybe you do them. If so, good for you. If not, well, give one or two of them some consideration. So, without any further ado, here's my list of simple things to help the environment:

• Go fluorescent. I'm sure most of you have heard about compact fluorescent light bulbs. If not, here's the deal. They cost about 3x-10x more than a regular bulb, but last 5x-15x longer and use about 75% less energy than regular bulbs. The new ones even create an incandescent-type light so you won't have to deal with the fluorescent fuglies. Also, because they are more efficient, they run cooler. That won't really make much of a difference in a small apartment, but possibly in a larger home it could translate into lower heating/cooling costs. Here's a tip, though- since CF's contain trace amounts of Mercury, you'll need to recycle them when you're done with them (easy enough to do, trust me). You can find CF's pretty much at any hardware store. I got mine at Ikea.
• Along with that last one, don't forget to turn off your lights when you don't need them! Thanks Dad.
  
• Get a bag. If you're like me (young, single, handsome), you don't make many big trips to the grocery store, but rather smaller, more frequent ones. I guess that NYC lifestyle has gotten to me. Well, why not get a reusable shopping bag? Most girls I know are looking for a good excuse to get a new bag anyway. There are plenty of places to buy them, and you can even go super fancy and custom build one over at timbuk2.
• Get a bottle. Honestly, how much better does bottled water taste than the tap? OK, so sometimes it really does (talkin' to you Utah). But you can save a whole lotta plastic if you just get some kind of reusable water bottle. I thought it was a laugh when San Francisco outlawed bottled water in government buildings, but the more that I think about it, the more it makes sense. We already have the infrastructure to bring water to us pretty much anywhere, why does it have to be trucked across the country? Refilling your old Poland Springs bottle (or Dasani, or whatever) is a good step in the right direction, but since you can't clean it out, you'll eventually have to replace it. Why not just get something reusable in the first place? You don't have to get a Nalgene, just get something. Oh, and if you don't like the taste from the tap, get a filter. I'm not saying don't buy bottled water, I'm just saying a little bit of planning can make an impact.
• Consider public transportation or carpooling (not really applicable to New Yorkers).
• Recycle your old batteries/tech gear. What do you do with old technology? Most of the big box vendors now will accept old computers/gear for recycling. Honestly, do it. Also, consider rechargeable batteries for around the house. Though they still can be a source of heavy metals entering the environment, recycling them can reduce this risk. Plus, you will use less batteries over the course of a year.
• Turn off your computer at night. Yeah, this one can save you some money over the course of a year. Perhaps you are like me, though, and use your computer as a wake up alarm (yeah, I'm that nerdy). Well, consider putting your computer to "sleep" for the night. It uses less energy than if it were on, and most good alarm programs out there have some way of waking the computer up (I use Awaken, which does the trick extremely well). If you are feeling really nerdy, you can program your computer to actually turn itself on in the morning. Excellent.
• Refill or recycle your ink cartridges. Refilling saves you money, but if you don't feel like it, recycling your ink cartridges is super easy. Lot's of places will take them, and HP even includes an envelope for mailing old cartridges back to them for recycling.
• Last but not least, consider pen refills. OK, this one is admittedly a bit dubious. I don't really know how much of an environmental impact this one will have, but consider this. I spent $9 on a stainless steel pen in the Summer of '05, and I'm still using the original ink cartridge 2 years later. So, I must admit a certain bias here, as I collect pens. I have had some pens for almost 10 years now, and I keep using them. I know that some people have a tendency to lose pens, but those are the type of people that I don't care to mix with (ha ha! just a joke!). Seriously, give it a shot. I'd be willing to bet you that if you put as much effort into not losing a pen as you do in not losing your keys (and really, how much is that), you'd probably keep it for years.

Well, that's my post for the day. Yeah, that last one was a bit of a rant - deal with it.

Love and Baseball

I love baseball. I love baseball so much that I'm even willing to talk about my love life on this blog, just so that you understand how much I love baseball. Considering that my only hard and fast rule for blogging is to avoid talking about relationships, this is a pretty big deal.

Enough preamble. I'm not one of those guys who wrote down a list of things that he is looking for in a girl, but there are a few things that would be nice: she's got to have a good sense of humor, she's got to be easygoing, and she's gotta love baseball.

That's right, I want to marry a baseball fan. I love being with the crowd and rooting for your team. I love that at the ballpark you can give your neighbor a high-five after a big play, even if you don't know them from Adam. And when you love something, you want to share it with the ones you love, right? Right. I can't wait to take my kids to their first game. Going to the game with my Dad was always one of my favorite things. Heck, those experiences made such an impression on me I still remember the first game I ever went to (Mariners vs. Orioles). I think I was 6. I don't remember much else from when I was 6.

Familial concerns aside (and more to the point) girls in baseball gear are hot. I don't know if it's some kind of tomboy thing or an attraction fueled by shared interest, but when a girl throws on her team's colors, I'm sold. And forget fashion. You can always tell when a girl is trying to look the part. I'm talking about wearing it because you love your team. Show me a girl that has bought at least one piece of baseball apparel that doesn't match her purse and I'm there.

One last thing: team choice. Of course, first and foremost, I'd love it if I met a Mariner's fan. I actually did ask a girl out once solely based on the fact that she was a Mariners fan, but that's a story for some other time. But, since M's fans are few and far between out here in the East, I'm open to any team affiliation - except of course for Yankees fans. I realize that I'm eliminating a big portion of the people I may potentially date, but I just can't do it. Any time I try rooting for them, a little bit of me dies inside. But I guess there's always exceptions...

I should have listened

OK, so this week is a pretty big one if you are a geek like me. You see, Leopard (that's the new Mac OS (operating system)) has a release date for Friday, while Guitar Hero 3 has a release date for Sunday. What!? Yeah, Sunday. Well, let me tell you a story...

Way back when I preordered GH3, I debated whether to go to the one on 6th and 23rd or the one in NoHo. A little voice inside my head told me to go to NoHo, but seeing as the 6th Ave location is slightly less difficult to get to, I preordered there (that was before I knew it was coming out on a Sunday). Turns out there is only one place in NYC where they are doing a midnight release (complete with prizes and t-shirts), want to guess where that is? That's right, NoHo. Bummer.

Happy Birthday to me?

No, it's not my birthday just yet, but with the recent spate of friends' birthdays I have been thinking about it. You know, what to do, where to do it - the usual stuff. And then I go and get the ward email announcing that the long awaited Lingos* are finally here - on my birthday. Great, now I've got to compete with that. Talk about adding insult to injury. First the Lingos torture me because as much as I want to enter, I can't come up with a single thing that wouldn't be total crap AND THEN they mock my pain by doing the whole thing on the one day of the year when I can really feel good about myself! Seriously, Lingos, stop sipping the hate-orade and give a guy a break!


*For those of you who don't know, the Lingos is/are (not sure) the LDS film festival thingy here in NYC. Seriously, get with it.

Got a good post coming - this isn't it.

Can I just say that I love this introduction? And that the choice of songs fits nicely with the overall feel of the show?

Damn scientists and all their promises...

I'm not going to lie to you. I want a time machine, and I'm a bit peeved that modern science hasn't made one available to me yet. You see, I really want to go back in time and live it up with the Jet Setters of the '60's. You know, James Bond style, with tailored suits, hotels where the concierge can get you anything you want, and stewardesses in alluring uniforms. Dammit, I want a Diner's Club card.

So, now that you all know that little secret, let me fill you in on one more. After living it up in Europe, I'd take my time machine to Scandinavia during what I like to call the ABBA years. This is a somewhat new desire of mine, and though traces of it have been simmering away in the back of my mind for quite some time, it took this video and the following picture to really bring it to a boil, because, let's be honest, who doesn't want to look like this couple?
Seriously, he's like He-Man in a tux.

Really? This is still in there?

I began humming the tune used in the video below. I had no idea that a memory of such a thing still has space in my brain.

Note: You only really need to watch about half of this video. Probably even less.

I see some amazing things

Yes, I do see some amazing things at times. This week has been extra amazing, because starting last Thursday, I've seen amazing things at almost a daily rate. Here's a rundown of the highlights.

• Thursday: On my way home from Genevieve's bash, I had my second John Hodgman sighting. This time he was at the corner of Houston and Allen hailing a cab (as opposed to last time, when I almost tripped over him). He was wearing the EXACT same thing as he was last time. I get the feeling he has a whole closet full of the same thing, kind of like Matlock.
• Friday: At the new "Holiday Express" Toys 'backwards R' Us in NoHo, I saw the loveable mascot Geoffrey Giraffe manhandling a coworker and shoving him into an elevator (don't worry, it wasn't an elevator shaft, the car was there), thereby spoiling many a fond childhood memory. It was weird.
• Saturday: I saw myself entering Taco Bell, which is something I haven't done in over a year, and I quite enjoyed my crunchwrap supreme. Perhaps I should be worried about a relapse.
• Sunday: I saw the Prophet (on my computer screen).
• Today: I saw former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox at an NYU forum. He talked about economics, immigration, his time as president, and whether or not his grandfather is going to heaven. This last bit is worth a bit more detail, mostly because the other stuff is way beyond the scope of this blog. Apparently his grandfather was an Evangelical Christian, and a few days before his death, Fox's mother, who was concerned about his salvation, had the priest come and baptize him. The funny thing about all this is that, due to his Alzheimer's and being asleep, he had no idea what had happened. So, even though he's not sure if his grandad is in evangelical heaven or catholic heaven, he's pretty sure he's taken care of. As you can see, it had it's light moments.

Also, I got a facebook invite to join this group today. With all due respect to the party that sent it to me, I think I'm going to have to decline. I feel pretty secure at NYU as is.

Morning Quickie

Alicia took what is easily my favorite picture of the weekend. Just thought I'd share.

Just another GH post

Has anyone else noticed how awesome the set list is getting for Guitar Hero III? Here's just a sampling of artists for those who don't know: Santana, Pearl Jam, Bloc Party, Dead Kennedys, Pat Benetar, ZZ Top, Tenacious D, Weezer, Metallica, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kiss, DragonForce, Kiss, Aerosmith, Kaiser Chiefs, The Beastie Boys, Alice Cooper, The Who(!), Foghat, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cream, and (last but not least) The Rolling Stones. Phew! After all that awesomeness, how could I not pre-order a copy at my local BestBuy?I was kind of wondering why the box was so big, until I took a closer look.
Wow! Free guitar strap? Ok, so I knew that you got a free guitar strap in exchange for making a binding promise to BestBuy (seems like a good deal, eh?), but I thought you got it when you picked up your game. What an excellent mistake. I couldn't wait to open this baby up, but I waited patiently until I got home.
Wait for it... wait for it...
Bam! An excellent use of a box.
I bet this strap will look excellent with my black and white wireless guitar.

Yup, the guitar looks more excellent. I wish it did the same for me. Also, the strap does say Guitar Hero, like in the picture on the box.

Taste the happy

In the two years I spent living in Mexico, I never once had the Virgin appear in my food (nor in any other medium, for that matter). Tonight, however, the Smiley Face Man visited me in my Oreo.

I'm undecided on Halloween

For the last while now, my free time has been dominated by a search for the world's most awesome Halloween costume. Oh, I've tossed around several ideas, and tossed just as many out, but I've still only come up with semi-awesome ideas. Nothing truly... Awesome. For a while, I was considering something that involved this,
a fake gold chain, and a spray painted badminton birdie, sunglasses and a headband, but in the end, I felt the idea of "Italian Badminton Champion Enrico Ferrari" was maybe a bit too esoteric. Plus, I couldn't get the suit in my size (for a reasonable price). One of my other leading ideas,
Matlock, probably wasn't going to be recognizable enough, and I didn't want to spend the evening in conversations like this: "You remember. Matlcok. Andy Griffith? Simply country lawyer who rarely lost a case?" So that one has been passed on. For awhile I also considered going as Steve Zissou, but I thought perhaps that was a little too 2005.

So, what does this all mean? Well, two things really. One, I'm really open to suggestions right now, and two, I'll probably just be a baseball player again. For like the 5th time.