great day for freedom

the first elections in iraq in fifty years went even better than expected despite all the threats, and in some cases acts, of violence by terrorists. i'm sure it must have pained all those who still hold on to their idea of this war as a "quagmire". of course, they'll probably just ignore this like they do all the other facts.

a warm place

revenge of the sith is now a mere four months away, but we have yet to see too much hype for it, other than the teaser trailer. it seems that's all due to change soon, with rumors of a full length trailer coming out on march 11th. not only that, but the official site has released the opening text scrolls for all six star wars movies on it's official site. that's right, including episode III. props to ign for the heads up.

the sky is broken

so i decided today that i'm taking a break from video games. i'm not sure for how long, at least a week. i just need to manage my time better and do more important and useful things. obviously i need to study for school and do more work in that area, but there are also at least 4-5 books i've been wanting to read, and there's my guitar that i never play much and wish i would. the only video games i'm allowing is if i'm playing with other people there, like halo at doug's house, or mario tennis or whatever. counter-strike online doesn't count. if i play it by myself, i'm taking abstaining from it. now i just need to limit my time online.

ocean pulls me close and whispers in my ear

this guy must also ref at the western hills sports mall and the spring cinci rec league.

just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you

by now this is probably old news, but last friday i got my new car. it's a white 2001 mazda protege lx. it's pretty sweet. although at the moment i'm a little annoyed because it already has a flat tire. i need to get to changing it so i can see if i ran over something or if it's just deflated.

i was watching through the terminator trilogy yesterday. i forgot how classic judgement day is. james cameron was on the ball there. probably his best movie, followed by aliens, although it's hard for me to pick between the two.

there's no way out of here

i hate the patriots.

the needle and the damage done

this bloggerbot thing is a pain, but since i don't have a website to host pictures on, i'm stuck with this.

this is the end, my only friend

the last picture of me with my car, before the towtruck came and took it way... forever.

listen to the money talk

it would appear that ea games didn't think that buying a 5 year deal with the nfl wasn't enough of a knockout punch for their competition. in fact, it seems like they're bent more on eraticating any opposition, instead of simply incapacitating it. today the announcement was made about the fifteen year deal between ea and espn, giving them rights to all things espn. this means that even if sega decided to make a football game for 2k6, or even another nfl game in 2010, it won't be a continuation of their espn nfl series. ea games' strategy of choice seems to be nuke all chance of opposition, allowing you to make the crappiest games for the largest price.

teenage angst has paid off well, now i'm bored and old

i hate the patriots. looks like i'm rooting for the eagles and the steelers next week, now that the colts lost. they still couldn't get it together in foxboro. the patriots seem to be peyton's kryptonite.

my rental is up by wednesday, and my grand am is officially totaled, so we've been car shopping the past few days. not much fun car shopping in really cold weather, but we don't have much choice.

i got my first parking ticket at xavier after all this time of parking in the commuter lot without a pass. too bad the ticket is for the monte carlo, so i won't have to worry about paying that.

i saw the life aquatic with steve zissou the other night. i thought it was pretty funny. willem dafoe's character in particular was hilarious. however, i would caution people that this seems like one of those movies that people either find very funny, or don't like much at all. that, or they just find it strangely amusing. i also don't know that i would see it again anytime soon, as it's a little on the long side, and a little melancholy, for a comedy.

the blog side of the moon presents...

The 2004 Davie Awards


Best Movie: The Incredibles
runners-up: Collateral, The Passion of the Christ, Napoleon Dynamite, Spider-Man 2


Best CD: Velvet Revolver - "Contraband"
runners-up: Nirvana - "With the Lights Out", Incubus - "A Crow Left of the Murder", U2 - "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb"


Best PC Game: Half-Life 2
runners-up: Far Cry, Unreal Tournament 2004


Best X-Box Game: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
runners-up: Halo 2, ESPN NFL 2K5


Best Attended Event: Bengals beat Browns 58-48
runners-up: Velvet Revolver concert, Incubus concert, UC beats Northern Iowa 76-70 in 2 OT



Things I missed that might have made it:
PC Games: Pirates!, DOOM 3, Rome: Total War, SW: Battlefront
X-Box Games: Burnout 3, Ninja Gaiden, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, LOTR: Third Age
Movies: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Starsky & Hutch, Bourne Supremecy, The Aquatic Life with Steve Zissou


2005 Preview:
PC Games: Stalker, F.E.A.R., Brothers in Arms, Act of War, Age of Empires III, Civilization 4, Quake IV
X-Box Games: Star Wars: Republic Commando
Movies: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, War of the Worlds


that's it. i'm sure you'll all be eagerly awaiting next year's awards. you can begin your arguing and complaining in the comments... now.

i'm not like them, but i can pretend

here's a newsflash hot off the presses for you: gamers are normal people. wow, glad someone informed me of that. i guess i can put away my magic: the gathering cards, take off my spock ears, and take my fat, pasty 32 year old body out of my parent's basement and into the sunlight, which i have not seen for several years. because that's exactly how i thought gamers really were. there needs to be a rule that instead of spending money on useless studies like this, they just send the money to me. then i can use it to buy more games, and continue to be the drag on society that all gamers are.

the lights came on fast, lost in motorcrash

i got in a wreck on the way to uc today. i'd just turned right off my street, and was headed down rybolt when this kid came flying out of his driveway in reverse, right into my side of the car. i honked and tried to go around him, but he slammed right into me, and i spun around 180 degrees into the opposite lane. it's a good thing no one was coming the other way or i would slammed right into them. the kid that hit me was obviously really shaken up. i've see him before; i think he's a junior or senior at oak hills. he was real apologetic about the whole thing, and i could tell he felt like crap. i can't imagine how much more it would have sucked to have had that happen and then have the person you hit scream and yell at you (now rob is going to comment on the angry african americans he hit in clifton).

my car is messed up pretty bad. the side mirror is gone, the door barely opens and closes, the windshield has a new crack, and the whole driver's side is dented and scraped up. definately not something i want to drive around in that condition. i drove it back to my house, but i'm sure it's not safe to take it any further than that. considering the car's worth, i'll be surprised if they don't declare it as totalled.

all in the suit that you wear

the bengals did a nice job putting down the eagles yesterday. people can say what they want about it not being a big deal because they rested most of their starters, but playing s second-string didn't help other teams with more to play for than us. i think we could have given the starters a run for their money, especially since no one even knows if they'll be any good with TO. anyways, it was a good way to end the season, and it was nice to see rudi top dillion's single season rushing record. they definately need to resign him, and tj too. our schedule for 2005 looks exciting. there'll be some good home games to see: the colts, vikings, and packers among them.