Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings DS

So many good RPGs coming out for the DS.

100 - Centennial Schools Event

Well, I suppose I should have done something in my last post, being that it was my 100th, but seeing as how long I have actually had this posting, it is not all that momentous. I should have hit this long ago. But enough of that, no party planned, no big banner sales, this blog is going right to work to fulfill what is requested of it.

It has been noted that the list of schools has not been posted yet. Without further ado, here is that list. (in the order that they appear on my excel spreadsheet). U = University :) and SUNY means that it is part of the State University of New York system.

U of Missouri
U of Texas at Austin
SUNY Stony Brook
Rice University
Indiana University
Boston University
U of Massachusetts at Amherst
Tufts University
SUNY Albany
U of Rochester
U of Connecticut
U of New Hampshire

Oh, and some exciting news, or rather potential (especially since I did not suggest, nor even knew, about the school before it was added to the list - Rice University, as some may know, is in the heart of Houston, TX heh. That school was directly passed down from the grand professor Dr. K who expressed heart felt admiration for their program.)

Great Trip

Everything went very well on the trip to Oregon. There was nary a snowflake in the sky and none on the ground as we made our way both there and back. Got to see the new Bond movie, Casino Royale, and it was pretty good. Gotta love my families switch button fireplace. Flip on, ahhh that's nice, a little too hot? flip off, just right. It really was a wonderful time and they even got me the classic controller for the Wii. I can now use that for the virtual console games and Game Cube games :) let the good times roll.

But before they do, I must get applications finished up :)

Road Trip Christmas 2006

The weather looks fine today, sunny outside my window right now, which is not that surprising in beautiful California but something I welcome on the day we are to leave for Oregon, the land of wind and snow, or perhaps just snow and rain since I think Chicago has the wind thing covered. Sorry, that's Chi-town to you and me and everyone in the drum and bass community. The weather does seem like a God-sent, L and I were unsure of our holiday plans because there was some storm warnings over the pass and we do not have chains for the Probe. The reason for that being that the wheels are so close to the wheel well that they require a special cable system that runs somewhere around $250. The clouds seem to have parted and we will be off for lovely Eugene as soon as L gets off of work. Can't wait to see the family and have a lot of Holiday cheer, oh yeah, and the Wii is coming, too. It's looking forward to meeting the family as well.

It Begins

The new wave is here and, hopefully, it breaks the shore and finds an inlet. Applications are again upon me, I have what appears to be an almost final list of schools that I am applying to. I should post that up when it becomes definite. God has really been guiding me thus far, over a bit a rockiness and uncertainty, but I am back on track and ready to pour it on.

Rah rah enough for you?

"Ra, Egyptian god of the Sun!" - Space Ghost C2C

Amazon Wish List

Had to put up a link to my Amazon wish list. Some really good things on there, and the list keeps growing. Which, in a certain light, isn't really true. The list hasn't really grown for at least several weeks. I guess I just have everything I have ever wanted and it's hard thinking up those little treats to add. I have a gorgeous and lovely wife, loving and supportive family, great friends, a job, a cool little apartment, hot water every morning, cool coffee machine and coffee whenever I want it, a Nintendo DS and Wii (wow I'm lucky), and computers (lucky again! I am sure that there are many who have none).

Well, I suppose Thanksgiving is already over and we are on our way to Christmas, but I could not help feeling thankful for all of these things and an unending list of things on top of this and to come.

The Speaker Ulysses

"We are not that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

This, from the noted character in Tennyson's work, seems to speak well into our times. The idea, and the weight, of the sheer quality of those generations that preceded ours leaves its melancholy tone to linger over my thoughts. I hope those of us in the good fight do retain that rigor of will to yield not to this world; seek and find truth and beauty, and to know where the two derive their purpose.

Super Swing Golf

Well now that we have the Wii, this looks like a must have game. Come on, I mean golf on an aircraft carrier? What could be cooler than that. And you know this game will be all about that happy, very catchy, Japanese music... baa bee bee boo de baa :)

Wii Day

It was all worth it; the 36hrs in line at Target, the cold, the hardness of the ground, all were forgiving elements when you compare how fun this system is to play, how well wrought the design, and how sophisticated the content is. Got the three games because the store just had to do one of those deals where you get a pretty good price if you do. Have to say that each has its own style, appeal, and motif so I am very happy with our selection. L was an absolute trooper the entire time; there were times when she had more energy than I did and she never let the excitement fade. I have some cool photos from camp Wii, be putting those up soon. Met some very nice and cool people in line while we were there. We were truly blessed to have a good "line-up" I guess you would call it. Everyone there made it a really fun experience. Now for the excitement of bringing it home for Thanksgiving. Me hears the impending bowling/golf/tennis tournament; wow, we could really make it a Triathalon. 

Conference Acceptance

Really good news just came in today over the wire. The conference that I had sent my abstract to the other day, the PCA/ACA (Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association) conference in New Mexico, sent me an acceptance email. So I am really excited to get that experience and do my best in presenting my paper on Gibson. I will be presenting my paper in a panel most likely, although the panels will probably be assembled soon since they just made the selections today. The panel is in the sci-fi and fantasy area of the conference and, well, let's just say I'm pretty revved up for it.

New Call of Duty Trailer

Just looks at those innovative uses of the controller. Yeah, camping out is gonna be worth it, woo hoo.

Hmm, I need to post something of dramatic content; something philosophical. If anyone reading this didn't know me, they would think I was some gaming geek with a job at the 7-11. Way off, for the record, I mix paint.

Hmmm, next up: something from Thomas Mann, he'll help me recover some dignity.

Epic

As my good friend and company in this adventure would say; it was Epic! Then he would grab me by the sleeve until he had my undivided attention and stare the importance of the moment into my eyes and memory.

Indeed it was an incredible weekend. Although, due to lack of time, I will not go into all the details as of now: I have been trying to get more sleep lately even when I am not working the next day with the aim being better focus and productivity.

In an unrelated note; I sent off an abstract earlier today for the SW ACA/PCA conference in New Mexico. I would very much like to attend and present at that one. 

Happiness

Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.

Robertson Davies

Taken from the daily quotations RSS I have on my home page; I think this to be a very clear distinction on what happiness really is. It is listed under their 'cynical' quotations and it is as such because of the last bit of unhappiness. Although I take issue with it being listed as cynical, I can see their point. It isn't cynical, however, because if you take the quotation in full the use of unhappiness at the end is layered in plurality: it is not really unhappiness but the personal label that one gives it that makes it so, it's semantic, signified by the use of "brand."

Chico - Half Life?

I had never really noticed before how much many parts of Chico looks like Half Life 2. Perhaps it is just my fandom kicking in and triggering hypnagogic images, but I think the evidence speaks for itself. While my wife has the car I have made a few walks from our apartment to the university to attend some study seminars on the upcoming GRE test. These were actually taken on a day that I went for the walk just to see how long it would take me and to clear my head of a lot of studying. It was very short. This made me realize that it is often a case of habit to simply drive everywhere when walking, escpecially in Chico's best season, Fall, can be very rewarding. Look, it can even trigger the inner gaming imagination.

 

Fuse

Meh.: October 2006

My good friend's blog, looks like it is under works in the best way. If it is one thing that can bring me to feeling giddy it's knowing my friends have found happiness. This looks like a wonderful post.

Michel Ancel Interview

This trailer is worth the entire last few seconds. Genius. I will be getting this game, go Wii. Hail Launch Day.

And he's French, tre chic. I have always loved the work of Prevost, so why not this guy?

Gaming Couples Event

Ruby Skye Calendar

Never thought I would see an event like this. Suppose it would fit in with our latest stint (or longer) in WoW. An interesting choice of venues given that Ruby Skye is the traditional site of world renown DJs and the like.

I am not thinking very seriously about going, in fact not at all. I will either be vacationing with my inlaws or hosting a friend. Events like this one should be something I attend in the future if I hope to get into the gaming theory industry.

World of Warcraft Music Video

Simply Amazing.. To critics of the game, ahem, I present this work of fine, nay, exquisit art. Listen to the words and let them take you away to 'whole new worlds' perhaps. Quite well done. To Tim; yes man, I remember the glory, and then I remembered some of the droll repetition and endless minor tweeking and lack of social interaction, well, not to go on a tirade, but needless to say, at least for now, it is time to move on. Only side effect of WoW so far is really long, sometimes too long, run on sentances, especially in instances where one or two short ones would do, like this one here.

WoW - Beginnings

As is said: "It Has Begun!"

This weekend marks the first time I have logged on to a persistent world MMORPG and I had the extreme pleasure of doing so with my wife. Here we are at a well outside of the main city, forgot the name but I am sure I will pick them up in time. It was a thrill and I am sure that I will blog about it from time to time. As Brett told me when I informed him, "Say goodbye to your life." I am sure it will not come to that and, although I am sure we will enjoy it often, it shouldn't dominate our lives. But I think some fandom might be cool to get into. More about my video game theory ideas later, however, I thought that, should I go into speaking/writing about them in the future, this is probably one game I could not excuse myself from not having played; and so I have begun.

Ah sorry, no Wii

Well, it is my sad news that I was unable to get a Wii Preorder this morning. Camped out in front of Gamestop this morning, although camped is used a little weakly in my case. Fact is my fervor was not strong enough, got there sometime around 7am, not early enough. The front pair has camped since 11:30pm the night before, then on down to two in front of me got there at 5am. Parents for their kids seemed to trump true fandom in this case. Although there was some controversy about their being all from the same household (as in limit one per), but they went ahead and did it anyway.

No matter; I had a really good time. The event helped me to see that I have really missed regular friendly contact. Sure, I have my friends, but these were people I just met, under similar circumstances, and we really enjoyed each other's company. Topics ranged quite a bit but all within the general interests of people who would camp for a Wii, although some went a bit further; not surprising given the higher age of gamers nowadays. We discussed regional traits, gentrification, homelessness, etc. on top of games, movies, and shows.

It was a very nice experience. I was even asked to exchange numbers with one attendee who thinks we might be able to organize a campout on launch day. This time, perhaps it will be truly epic (in length as well as grandeur).