brain pickings

random shit, free-flow nonsense, call it what you want.

mike ironside is still the man
ignoring the guy's rugged stature and his history in film and other mediums, mike has that unmistakeable voice that's just as creamy and delicious as caramel. it demands respect and attention and makes you beg for more. so what's better than just the voice? well how about a bad ass spec ops agent that acts under his own, secret governmental group WITH THAT VOICE. yeah, Splinter Cell is back with a new chapter and mike is once again, making Sam Fisher, the Third Echelon agent a believable and amazingly fun character to play. Chaos Theory is the third game in this Tom Clancy series and i downloaded the recently released single player demo the other night. i was actually laughing out loud. and not at the gameplay. i haven't even started the demo yet. there is a training video section from the main menu that shows you all of Sam's new moves and teaches you how to navigate through the game via shadows/stealth, weapons use and acrobatics. i haven't bought a new game in over 3 months (which is a record for me), but i'll be picking this one up. the demo is a hefty 650 meg, but worth every single bit. laughing out loud...

gamestop's stocks drastically drop in the last three months
no, it's not the end of the world, but you'd think it was around my place. anyone who knows anything about me knows that i'm a pretty impulsive buyer and especially with games. being a gaming nut and having a fairly addictive personality tends to keep my checking account balance low and gamestop's stocks high. it occurred to me the other day that i hadn't purchased a game since before last thanksgiving when i picked up WOW. times are a changin' when the game that keeps me from unnecessary and silly purchases is a MMO. seeing as how my history with this type of game is epically abrupt, i'm amazed that i'm still playing, but what an amazing game. i won't go into the details of the game or the addictive nature of it, but sorry gamestop. pappa's got a brand new bag and it's got the Blizzard label on it.

what a jackass
as so eloquently captured by Any, we made our semi-usual trek to Hooters on sunday evening for cheap crab and wings and beer. all was going well until those morons that ran the place switched over from women's basketball to the oscars. now normally, women's basketball stands second in line to me castrating myself with a plastic spork from DQ, but Chris Rock was hosting the show and Any had to make a conscious effort to keep me from gouging my eyes out with freshly emptied crab shells. i've personally never liked Rock's comedy and whomever felt he would be the good candidate to bring the reputation of the oscars back up to watchable status should be fired. as we sit eating crab . . .

LBG: so millions are tuning in to watch...
Any: yeah, i'd imagine so.
Rock: ...Farhenheit 911 was one of my favorite shows last year...
LBG: and millions suddenly tune out from the show...

and CMT's weekend marathon of the dukes of hazzard spikes.

don't make anti-Bush jokes on live tv just because a huge pack of democrats are sitting on the first three rows. no one gives a fuck about susan sarandon any more.

pre-wedding chaos
until you've been there, you don't understand how chaotic and expensive it is to get married. all that effort for one day. for a 2-3 hour timeframe that changes your life forever. i'm still pretty giddy about the idea of having a wife, but i'm even more giddy about being certain that all of our furniture will fit. i know that sounds shallow, but we've been buying a lot of new furniture lately (a living room suite this last weekend) and i've never been this focused on furniture and making it fit and DECORATING. until now, an old poster of barbara bach half-heartedly hung on the wall has done me fine, but now it's candles and lamps and a kitchen table and towels for the guest bathroom and mirrors strategically placed and . . .
well, it's enough to drive a guy to drink. and thank goodness i already do that. now we've got marriage counseling to go to and they expect me to know what i want for the big day, decorations wise and when do we get moved into the new place and where in SF are we staying for the honeymoon? bartender! another round of shots please!

movies
seen a few lately. stacy and i caught Constantine last week. don't bother. some cool effects and very biblical view of Hell, which was a nice change from every other depiction attempted in the last 20 years, but not much can be done with Keanu at the helm and it was very forgetful. this'll be a good SciFi premier next fall on a sunday afternoon.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence - this came from my queue yesterday and although i wasn't a fan of the original, this was very interesting. not so much for the plot, but for the amazing concepts and graphics that were materialized in the film. the japanese have a way of making the bizarre, well, truly bizarre. the thing that never seems to change about these films is the constant barrage of strung-together proverbs that make up the plotline. these characters that have this unbelievable knowledge of ancient proverbs and can quote them on the spot. and the way that each pertains to what's happening right then in the film.

Garden State - i wasn't sure what this film would be about and whether or not it was considered a "chick flick". i hate chick flicks, but truly enjoyed this one. not only was it well written and acted, but the soundtrack was amazing and i really related to it. this is easily a rental if not a purchase.

i want your room spotless by this afternoon!
this kept ringing thru my head this weekend as i did some spring cleaning around the house. as anyone's mom has demanded, so did mine. and it's stuck, because despite my occasional mess, i'm a pretty neat person. which really is a conflict seeing as how i live with a total slob. but for two days, i dusted and scrubbed and mopped and vacuumed and threw away and everything you could imagine. i honestly don't think i've ever cleaned this hard at this place. and to truly make this a monumental cleaning, i got rid of the turtles. yup, they're gone. took them out to the local pond and set them free. it was a very sad day as i've had the three of them for over two years now and it's odd to walk into the kitchen now without the gurgling sound of the filter running or seeing them swim listlessly from one side of the tank to the other. but it was time. i also gathered my GNR and Whitesnake posters from high school and will be tossing those out as soon as i can gain the courage to do so. my intent is to carry over as little as possible to the new place, even if it means throwing everything away.