One Game Left

I only have one football game to look forward to this year/season. After the Browns blew it last Saturday against Cincinnati, they needed Indianapolis to pull through and beat Tennesee. No such luck. After pulling their first string offense, the Colts looked like St. Mary's School for the Blind playing against the Titans. Now, the Browns are out. They are the only ten win team in the NFL not to make the playoffs. Granted, I don't think they would have survived the all road game schedule they would have faced if they did make the playoffs as the wildcard, but it would have been nice to see them have a shot. Now, I don't know if I can get excited about the NFL playoffs. I usually pull for Indianapolis, but after they let me down, I just can't get excited for them. As we Cleveland fans are used to saying: there's always next season!

The one game I have to look forward to, of course, is the BCS National Title game in seven days between Ohio State and LSU. LSU is picked to win by 4 or 5, but I think either team has a legitimate chance of winning. I like that the Buckeyes are under dogs. They may go into the game with a chip on their shoulder. My only concern is that LSU has two mobile QBs to choose from and a mobile QB is one thing that the Buckeye defense has trouble with. Anyone remember a guy names Juice Williams? Still, I a hopful for an OSU win and National Title.

I guess am looking forward to today and tomorrow as well. Some pretty good bowl games coming up. (OK, so I am excited about more than one game. So what?) Is it weird that the Indiana/Oklahoma State game is going to be on the NFL Network? I will probably watch Wisconsin take on Tennesee, M*ch*g*n against Florida, and Illinois against USC. I try to hope for all Big Ten teams in the bowls, but I must admit I am a little torn for the UM vs Florida game. This may be a game that I hope for all of the players to get food poisoning and the schools must put in the marching bands to play. Honestly though, I see UM getting their asses kicked by a tough Florida squad. It will also be interesting to see if Hawaii can finish an undefeated season against the team that could be playing in the BCS title game.

Ever Google Yourself?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Four Days of Fattness

I have madeup my mind that this coming year, 2008, starting January 1st, I am going on a major diet. No more drinking booze. No more Christmas cookies. No more fast food. Add some excercise. I am hoping to get back down to my college weight by summer. It will be difficult and improbable, but it is a change that I need to make. I haven't weighed myself for a long time, but I know that I need to drop some pounds. So, that means that these last four days are the last days for me to be a bad boy. I won't be a glutton, eating nothing but cookied and carbs, but I will allow myself a few favorites before I impliment my diet. I will probably get some Roosters (like Hooters or BW3's, but better) and some Chipotle. The rough part is going to be no more beer, whiskey, or wine. the diet books say that some alcohol is OK, but I usually put my liver to the test and drink too much. The easiest way to do this is to just not buy anymore.

The hardest part about dieting, for me, is taking the time to prepare all of the foods that I am allowed to have. It takes time to make a nice salad and grill some chicken. Plus, it is hard to make these foods interesting everyday. What I usually do is make a big bag of salad and cook up several chicken breasts and eat off them sor a few days. Another negative is the cost of the diet. Eating salad and chicken or steak gets pricey. Still, I need to do it for myself and for my kids. I don't want to be that dad that never does anything with them because I am too fat and tired all the time. After all is said and done, I may post my before and after weights, but I don't want people to know how much I weigh now, until I have lost all I want to lose. I only hope that there are no major stressers in my life while I try to lose weight. I am a stress eater and drinker.

Go Colts!

I don't say that just because the Colts have been my 'play offs' team in the past few years(the team I root for in the play offs, since Cleveland is never there), I say that because the Browns need a Colts win to make the play offs this year. I am not sure how it all works out, but if both Cleveland and Tennesse win this weekend, the Titans go to the play offs, but if they both lose (or if just Tennesee loses) Cleveland will go to the play offs. Weird, huh? I don't really know how that math works out. Anyway, we Cleveland fans need Indianapolis to start Peyton and the rest of the first team offense for at least a half, so that they can build a lead, win the game, and bump the Browns into the post season for the first time since........ I can't remember. I am feeling a little doubtful about Cleveland's chances, after blowing their chance to clinch a play off spot by losing to Cincinnati last week. What the hell was up with that? Anderson threw back to back interceptions that lead to Bengals TDs in the last minute of the first half. TAKE A FUCKING KNEE ALREADY!!! It was really terrible. All I can say is, if the Bungles (oops) Bengals lost that game (which they almost did) they should have all returned their salaries and wrote the city of Cincinnati a letter of apology. Anderson should do the same for Cleveland, since he basically blew the play offs with his piss poor performance. I think he threw four interceptions in all: two leading to Cincinnati points and the other two halting Cleveland scoring drives. They definaltely looked like the Cleveland Clowns of years past.

Happy Christmahanaquanzikmidan!

No matter what your religion, nationality, race, color, or creed, Happy Holidays! I hope that you get to spend your time with friends, family, and loved ones.

Christmas has been pretty good so far. I was able to sleep until 9:00, if you can believe it! Considering I have two little kids, I figured I would be up at the crack of dawn. The kids all seem to be happy with their gifts. The big ones were: Noah - Ipod Shuffle Gabe - a Robosapien Alydia - a talking playset for her dolls. They were all pleased.

Again, Happy Holidays! Time for me to go eat some cookies!

Christmas Rant

I hate wrapping presents. Actually, truth be told, I SUCK at wrapping pictures. However, year after year I seem to get stuck with wrapping duties. I guess I don't mind, but I get very frustrated with the task. Not the easy square angle boxed items so much, but the weird kid toys that come in a container with a round side, a cut off corner, and weird angles. I hate those. The problem is, every damn toy out there is contained in a weirdly shaped box. The probability of a neatly wrapped toy is next to nothing. Honestly, some of the gifts I have wrapped look like they were wrapped by a two year old. I doubt that the kids will care though, they are just going to rip it all of in a few days. Still, any toy manufatcurers out there reading this post: USE SQUARE BOXES FOR FUCK SAKE!!!!!

Wood? Really??

So, Jessica and I are approaching our fifth wedding aniversary (01/06). It's hard to believe that it's only been five years....it seems like an eternity! JUST KIDDING!!! Seriously though, I really can't believe it's only been five years since we went to Las Vegas to get hitched. There have been ups and downs, but all in all I think we are doing very well. At least we aren't planning on separating or anything. We have some great kids, a nice house, are financially independant (more or less), and have good times together. What more do you need? So, I was wondering what one gets for one's spouse on their fifth anniversary. I firgured it would be something nice, like gold, wine, china, or something sentimental. Nope. Apparently, the fifth anniversary is the wood anniversary. "Happy anniversary, honey! Here's a stick!" I guess it could be something like furniture or a wooden picture frame, but wood seems like a pretty weak gift for the fifth anniversary. Considering I know people that have been married, divorced, and remarried in less than five years, I would think that a fifth wedding anniverary would rate something a little more flashy. I think maybe I just like spending money too much because I think of jewelry or other expensive gifts when I buy presents for my sweetie. The only bummer this year is that Jessica has to work on our anniversary this year. I guess I can cook a nice dinner or something before give her a twig. Maybe I will give her a homemade certificate good for one tree to plant in the spring. It can be our love tree! How cheesey! Seriously though, I know she wants a weeping cherry tree, so maybe that's not so bad of an idea.

Fuck you Nintendo. Fuck you and the Wii you rode in on!

I may have mentioned previously that Jessica and I have been looking for a Nintendo Wii for the kids for Christmas. Ok, Ok.... it is for us too, but mostly for the kids. Well, the Nintendo Wii is about as easy to find as a VD-free hooker in the ghetto. No, scratch that. A VD-free hooker is probably easier to find (not that I would look for one of those). Needless to say, the search has been frustrating. The reason for this is because Nintendo has been holding back production to keep demand high. This has created a Cabbage Patch Kid type frenzy when it comes to finding a Wii. I went to a Game Stop a while back and there was a line foe a Wii just because there was a delivery coming in that MIGHT have a Wii included. There were none. Anyway, yesterday, I found out that both Best Buy and Target were supposed to have Wii's available. So, I got up at 7:00 thinking I would get to Best Buy before they opened. I did, behind about 100 other people that got up earlier. So, I went to Target. There was no line, but when I got to the door an employee said they passed out tickets for the Wii at 7:00. I tried another Target and was told they passed out tickets for the Wii 15 minutes before I got there. If I would have went there first, I would have gotten a ticket and a Wii. Seeing as how this is the second time that I have checked multiple stores for a Wii, I have decided to call it quits. If Nintendo doesn't see fit to provide enough Wii's for the hundreds of people that want one for their families, I say, "Fuck you Nintendo!!" I have my Xbox and have had hours of fun with it and will have hours more to come. If I happen to see a Wii in the future, I will pick one up, but I am no longer going to actively search. It's not that important to me. Besides, we have already bought the kids enough stuff for Christmas.

I Am Legend - Worth Seeing in the Theater

I like sci-fi/horror movies. More specifically, I like the zombie genre: Dawn of the dead, Night of the Living Dead, Resident Evil.....these are all fun movies to me. I can't say why, maybe I just like being scared. Anyway, I Am Legend is the same type of film. Jessica and I went to see it last night and I really enjoyed it. It was really much better than the films I mentioned above. I was right in my post earlier this week. I Am Legend is very similar to Resident Evil and 28 Days Later. Will Smith play a survivor of an outbreak that has wiped out a large part of the world's population. I won't go into details though, because it was a really good movie and worth watching. Will Smith gave a really good performance. Some of the effects were a little fake looking, but they were not bad enough to be turned off by them. There were enough good scares and good plot twists and turns to make this a fun movie to watch. It was weird though. at the end of the movie, people clapped. I don't get that. I guess they are showing their appreciation for the film, but the actors and film makers can't hear them clapping. What's the point?

I was really excited my one of the previews that I saw: The Dark Knight. It is the Batman Begins sequel. It was weird, because I was thinking to myself, "Self, I wonder if there is a new Batman movie coming up sometime soon." just before the trailer started. The movie looks pretty good. The villian this time is The Joker, played by Heath Ledger. I was suprised by this because Heath Ledger is such a pretty boy and he looks hideous as The Joker. I must say that I really like the route that they took for these new Batman films. They are bringing out more of the darkness of the story rather than trying too hard to make the movies look like the comic books. Batman was good with Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker, but then the films just got silly. Anyway, I am excited about this movie.

Best Poker Night Ev'

I played some cards last night after bowling. Considering the shitty shitty night of bowling I had, it was apparent that all of my karma was going towards playing poker. I couldn't buy a strike to save my life and out team got DESTROYED every game. Anyway, the highlight of the evening was poker. One of my poker buddies lives close to the bowling alley and usually has a cash game on Thursdays. I mentioned a few posts ago that I was doing well lately in cards. I am up about $200 since the beginning of November. Not a bad chunk of change. Well, last night made that chunk of change over a month look laughable. I was hitting hand after hand and playing them well. There were only a couple hands that I play where I was upset with myself. I started out with $20, played with it for a while, went up, went down, up again, and then lost it all. I bought in for another $20. I played with it for the rest of the night. Went up, and up, then down a little, and then back up and up some more. All in all, I turned my $40 total buy in into $339. WOO-HOO!! Honestly, some of the winnings were due to luck, but I think most of them were due to playing well. I am amazed at how much money some of the guys lost last night. One guy, Benny, went to the ATM three or four times. He was easily in for at least $200. I guess he can afford it, but I only play with $20 or $40 before I quit. Anyway, I stopped keeping track officially, but I think that I am now even in my poker winnings and losses. I am rather pleased with myself. I hope that it is a sign that I am actually getting good at playing cards, rather than just being lucky.

December DVDs = Me Spending Lots of $$

Ah, the Christmas season. Time for lights, family, food, and mass DVD releases of summer movies. This is always an expensive time of year for me. So far, I have bought the following:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I saw this in the theater, but these movies are all so good. If you have never seen them or read the books, get out of your hole. The stories are really good.

Pirates of the Carribean At Worlds End - The third enstallment of this movie franchise. I also saw this in the theater, but I had the kids with me, so I was distracted and missed alot. It is a good movie, but the first one is better. Kiera Knightly is hot, but she needs to eat something. WAY too skinny.

Bourne Ultimatum - Another third movie. This is a really fun spy-type film. Matt Damon is a pretty good actor. He definately has made better movie choices (after Good Will Hunting) than Ben Afleck has.

Lost: Season 3 - I don't know why I watch this show. It is so frustrating to me. Every question that is answered poses new questions. I guess it is a show that I love to hate and hate to love. there is supposed to be alot of extra content on the DVDs, so hopfully I will get a few answers.

Next Tuesday: THE SIMPSONS MOVIE!!! I have not seen it yet. Yes, I am that guy. I wanted to, but having three kids restricts the amount of time you get to go see movies.

I think Jessica and I might go see I Am Legend this Friday. It looks like a pretty good film. I like Will Smith as an actor. The story looks like it may be like a Night of the Living Dead or 28 Days Later type film, where the majority of the people are infected and there is only one survivor. Still, it looks like there will be some originality in this film.

BSG bummer

I was watching BSG Razor on DVD. It had some extended scenes that were OK. If you saw the Razor "flashbacks" on Sci-Fi.com, then you saw most of the extended scenes. Mostly it was a young Adama kicking Cylon ass in the old war. There were some other good special features, including interviews and deleted scenes. I found it really disturbing when the actor playing Lee Adama was interviewed and he had a British accent. He sounded like a nancy boy. Anyway, there was conflicting information in the special features. One of the writer/creators said that the final Cylon may be revealed this season. Thus, implying that there will be more seasons. Then, there was a season four preview which said that it was the final season of Battlestar Galactica. WHAT???? This bums me out a bit. I seem to think that one season may not be nearly enough for BSG to wrap up satisfactorily. There are so many questions and loose ends from season 3. I hope that they are not going to use vague explainations to wrap up all of the lingering questions. They probably will though. Anyway, it is supposed to start in March.

General Stuff

A Rant - What's up with DVD sleeves? Do you all remember when CDs came in those huge cardboard boxes? I thought they were neat because I would keep them and hang them up on my walls in my bedroom, but the music industry put a halt to the use of these boxes in order to become more green friendly. Less cardboard used, fewer trees cut down. I got it. Now, the DVD industryhas started the same practice. Not all, but several DVDs are packaged in sleeves, both cardboard and plastic. What the hell for? Nine times out of ten, the box is identicle to the main DVD case: same pictures and same information on the back. I just don't get it. They waste space and make it harder to get into the DVDs. I usually just throw them away.

Bowling - I got one of my bowling balls worked on this past week. I have three, but really only use two. The one I got worked on is the older of the two, my Brunswick Zone. It is probably the more aggressive of my two bowling balls, but I don't use it as much because it was drilled wrong. I guess my hand has changed some through the years. Anyway, I got inserts put into the finger holes. They are rubber sleeve thingies that go into the finger holes to improve grip and reduce finger irritation. Well, I used my Zone last night and rolled a 648 series (216 per game average). I was pretty excited.

Poker - I won more money last night. We played a little bit after bowling at the ally. We have done it before, but this time the security guy told us that the assistant manager didn't want us playing anymore. We didn't have any money on the table, but were using chips. I guess they (the manager) were worried that the chips would violate their liquor license. Well, at least we played long enough to win $30. I am now up $230 for the past month. Nice. It probably would have been more because some guy at the ally asked to join the game and he lost $11 in three hands. All to me, actually. I am on my game, but I need to keep my head about myself. Last time I won a lot, I started playing sloppy and lost it. I am trying to hone my game enough so that I can do better next time I attempt the World Series of Poker even in Indiana coming next year in April. I am going to try to play in as many games as I can up until April.

Multi-post bloggin'

1. Tin Man - The Sci Fi Channel is getting some pretty good programming these days. This past week, Sci fi aired a mini-series called Tin Man. If you are not familiar with the show, it is based off of the story The Wizard of Oz. It is not the same story that the old movie told. It is losely based of the same story, but is more modern. Thee is a Scarecrow type character, a Cowardly Lion character, and a Tin Man Character, only each character is a bit different from classic story (the Tin Man is a police officer. The badge is made of tin Get it?). I won't go into details too much, but it is definately worth watching. You can see it on SciFi.com and I think it is being aired again this weekend.

2. Superbad = Super Hilarious!!! Get the DVD.

3. BUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRR - It snowed about six inches here yesterday. I like the first snow of the year. It is very pretty. I also like it snowy for Christmas. It just seems like it's not really Christmas unless there is some white powder on the ground. Beyond that, I wish the weather was a constant 80 degrees and sunny. Occasional rain is nice too, but the first days of Spring is the best time of year in my book.

4. How my mom stole Christmas - This year my mom told me that she is not buying presents for "adult children" this year and that we are not allowed to buy anything for her. Talk about bah humbugging Christmas! She said that it is because she hates shopping because she never knows what to get anyone. I like that this happens the year AFTER I buy them a DVD player. I was expecting to cash in this year. Plus, we usually hand out pictures of the kids this time of year for presents. I guess she doesn't get any this year. I have a way around it though. My parents' anniversary is Dec 28th, so instead of Christmas presents, they are getting anniversary presents. She is going to hate it.

5. In regards to above, we have almost all of the shopping done for the kids. Noah is getting a Ipod shuffle and some other odds and ends, Gabe is getting a RoboSapien, which is a remote control robot and some Transformers and other toys, and we are getting Aldia some dolls and toys. Actually, we only need to get things for Ally still. The boys are taken care of. We also want to get a Wii, but they are hard to find.

6. Wii's are hard to find. We have checked WalMart, Target, and GameStop. Each place tells us they are sold out and are expecting a shipment any day. I would try to order one online, but I doubt I will find one at a reasonable price that will ship in time.

Here we go again!

Once again Ohio State is in the BCS National Title Game. Nice. Honestly, I was perfectly content playing in the Rose Bowl, but then West Virginia and Missouri both lost Saturday night. It's a Festivus Miricle! The Buckeyes will meet the LSU Tigers, which is the match-up that everyone wanted before both teams lost late in the season. I think it is going to be the best match-up in the country, but I also think some teams got boned. For example, Georgia was ranked 4th last week, behind Ohio State (3rd), and both the #1 and #2 teams lost. Shouldn't that mean that the #3 and #4 teams should become #1 and #2? Then, there is Kansas, the only "big conference" team with one loss. Finally, Hawaii was undefeated this season. Sure, they had the weakest schedule in the nation, but they won all of their games.

Honestly, I don't know too much about LSU. I know that they are good and that they won the SEC title. They dropped two games, one to Kentucky and the other to Arkansas (both in triple OT), but they won six games against top 20 teams. They have a good QC, a 1000 yard rusher, and several good receivers. Also, their defense is tough and hard hitting, much like the Ohio State defense. I think that the LSU offense will give the OSU defense fits, buthopfully the Buckeyes learned their lesson when it comes to playing a team with a QB that can run. I believe that I have heard that LSU is favored in the game by five points. I am hoping that this game will resemble the 2002 BCS title game. No one thought that Ohio State could do anything against Miami, but the Buckeyes shocked the world by winning the game. I am excited to see what happens. GO BUCKS!!!

Special props to Illinois for going to the Rose Bowl to play USC. I fear that they may get their asses kicked, but hope that they show the country that the Big Ten is not the push over conference that everyone seems to think it is. Also, it looks like M*ch*g*n will get to have thier asses handed to them by Florida in the Capital One Bowl. Honestly, I hope the boys in blue win. I always try to support the Big Ten in the bowl games. I won't cheer if scUM wins, but I will be glad if Florida loses. Here is the bowl schedule.

Der Dutchman is Der Delicious

For Thanksgiving, I picked up my cousin Carrie and we went up to my parent's in Toledo. Carrie lives in Marysville, which is northwest of our house (in Hilliard) and is on the direct path to my parents' house (if you take the back roads). On the way home, we got a little lost and ended up in Plain City (in between Marysville and Hilliard). As we were trying to find our way, we passed a resturant called Der Dutchman. The name reminded me of the show Dead Like Me (only on DVD, but a really good show) because the characters all meet at a place called Der Waffle Haus. I really wanted to go to Der Dutchman because it has 'Der' in it's name. Sure, der is only German for 'the' but I am a simple person. So, last night Jessica and I went out with our friends Barb and Brian and we ate at Der Dutchman. It has a normal menu and a buffet, so most of us got the buffet. It was pretty limited in choice, but the quality was outstanding. Imagine all of your favorite comfort foods: ham, chicken, roast beef, meatballs, mashed potatoes, stuffing, beans, corn, YUM!! It was a little pricey for a buffet, but TOTALLY worth it. We walked in, sat down, and was done in under an hour. It was amazing since the parking lot was jammed packed.

After dinner, we went to Barb and Brian's house and played on their Wii for a bit. I think it convinced Jessica that we need to get one. I am fine with that, since it was pretty fun. We played the bowling game and I boxed Barb once. My only concern is how I will connect it to our TV which already has sat TV, DVD, and the Xbox connected to it. I guess I will need to figure it out. The boxing game was fun and made me sweat a little.

As a side note, it looks like the Buckeyes will be playing for the National Title again this year. Both West Virginia and Missouri lost. The only question is going to be which team will meet the Buckeyes. The experts seem to think it will be LSU. I am a little nervous about the Buckeyes playing in the title game again after last year's ass whipping they received from Florida. Hopfully, they have learned a lesson and will not take their opponents lightly. GO BUCKS!!!

We Find Out Today

One one hand, it sucks that the Buckeyes' fate is in the hands of other teams, but on the other hand, all they need to do is sit, wait, and see what happens. Ohio State is number 3 in the BCS rankings behind Missouri and West Virginia. Both teams play today, Missouri against Oklahoma and West Virginia against Pittsburgh. The best shot for OSU is that Oklahoma beats Missouri. It has happened already this season. Honestly, I am happy no matter what happens. It has been a good season for Ohio State. #3 in the country and whooping on M*ch*g*n is a great season in my book. If both Missouri and West Virginia win, Ohio State still goes to the Rose Bowl for a probable game against USC. Not a bad deal. Honestly, a match up with West Virginia scares the crap out of me. The way Illinois mobile QB tore us up is a pretty good indicator that WVU would run through our defense as well. Well, I guess what happens happens. No matter what happens, Ohio State is going to get to go to a good Bowl game.

I have been doing pretty well playing poker lately. I'd say that, over the past month, I am up about $200. I was keeping track of the exact amount of my winnings and losses, but I was getting depressed watching the negative amount increase. I am basing this turn around on the movie Rounders. It is about poker players. I had become too cautious ad was playing my cards more that I was playing the players at the table. Texas Holdem is more about reading the players and betting on what you think they have than it is about betting on the cards that you have. For example, last night, I had two 5's in my hand and totally bought the hand. There was a king, queen, and some other cards all higher than my 5's. I kept betting the whole way, knowing there was no way I had the best hand, and was able to win me a big pot. Good times.

It's Barf-tastic!

So, I pick up Gabriel from the bus stop Wednesday and he didn't seem himself. I asked him if he was OK and he said he was ungry and his tummy hurt. I got him home, game him some chips, and he didn't touch them. Uh-oh. I knew there was a problem. He trued to go to the bathroom and them laid down on the couch. Some ttime went by and he then sat up. I asked how he felt, he said his tummy hurt still and I asked, "Do you think you are going to throw...." Bluuuaaaarrrrrrffffff!!!! All over the new couch. Twice. And then again all over his bed later in the evening. That was all for him, but now Alydia is barfing every 20 minutes or so all through the night. Jessica gave her some medicine, so hopfully it will stop so that they can get some rest.

On a side note, I dropped a HUGE bomb last night bowling. My first game was a 130. I haven't bowled a 130 in about 20 years. I . WAS. PISSED. I stopped trying to bowl with finesse and just started whipping the ball down the lane. The results were a bloody finger, a blister, and a 226 and 198.

My Tech "Support" Nightmare

So, you all know I play my Xbox online. A LOT. Probably too much, actually, but I think I am an addict. Anyway, to do this, I have a wireless router. Or, I HAD one. When playing Halo 3 online, I would get an error message saying that my NAT was moderate and I would have problems finding matches. Also, I was having trouble connecting to one of my friends online because our networks were incompatable. Well, I started looking at my wireless network on my Xbox, then on my computer, but I couldn't find a way to change my NAT to open. So, I called Time Warner. They said it was probably a router issue and that I should call Linksys. I did. And the nightmare begins. Now, I am a very patient man. I see no need to get pissed off at people trying to do their jobs, even if they are doing it badly. I almost lost it with Linksys. After the tech told me to try a few things, he told me to download an update that would fix my problem. I did so, opened the program and was told to disconnect my modem. Instead of disconnecting it from my router, I unplugged the power to my modem. I have cable phone, which is through the modem. I lost my tech guy. I called back because now I had NO internet connection. After more time on the phone with a different person, she tells me she thinks that my router is defective and there is nothing else she can do. HELLO!!! IT WAS WORKING CLOSE TO FINE BEFORE I CALLED YOU HUMPS!!!!! All three computers were connected, I was just having some Xbox issues. I was given an apology and a new customer service number to call. Probably the complaint department. Rather than fucking with them, I just went out to get a new hard line router. No more of this wireless bullshit for me. Alas, still no internet connection. Since this was an issues I was starting o have without the router, I called Time Warner again. Not once. Not twice, but THRICE!!! They were all helpful, but the first two didn't sem to know what they were doing. I got all the same advice I would get from my tech people at Nationwide: "Turn it off and on again. See if that helps." The third techie, a cute sounding female named Heather (yes, I remember you name when you get me access to the internet for my Xbox addiction) told me that the Linksys humps hooked me up with a static IP address and it was screwing everything up. So, I bet my old router is fine. Still, after buying a new router, running all of the cable, and drilling a hole in my floor for my Xbox cable, I am NOT going to try to bother with the old router. No thanks!

Got My BSG Fix

Battlestar Galactica Razor was on Saturday night. It was pretty good, but added more questions to the piles of questions left by the season finale. Basically, it was the story of the Battlestar Pegasus from the point of the Cylon attact to meeting up with Galactica. The story was good and there were some good action sequesnces. It was a little disappointing because Razor basically showed you stories that were already told, like shen Kane killed her XO when he didn't order an attack. We also discovered that Kane was a lesbo and shagged the blonde Cylon. Why we needed to find that out, I don't know. I guess they wanted to add some shock value. I won't get into the story too much because I don't want to ruin the fun for those of you that haven't seen Razor yet. I feel like I can make it to the March premire of the next season.

General Updates

Thanksgiving was pretty good yesterday. We went to my parent's house in Monclova (outside of Toledo) for turkey and all the fixin's. It was all pretty good, but I think my mom is getting a little lazy and she cooked it all in advance and just heated everything. At least it all tasted like leftovers. Still good though. We got to spend the day with my aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, and his wife. The kids always like seeing their grandparents.

I forget if I mentioned this, but the new Xbox 360 I needed to get is working well. It is nice and quiet. The only this I needed to do was recover my gamer tag. Oh, and I lost all of my saved games. Still, my online rep is intact and my status of a kick-ass level 25, grade three captain in Hal0 3 is intact as well. Plus, I got two free games with the Xbox. Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I played both a little, but I am so addicted to Halo 3. It's a sickness, really.

Probably the most exciting news is that Jessica finally got her driver's license. Don't ask me why she never had it before, I don't know the answer to that. It was irritating and a pain being the sole driver in the house. Now, she has more freedom and I have more sleeping time since I don't have to drive her to work anymore. I am not sure what is going to cost more though, the money I spent on driving her to and from work or the money she is now spending shopping. Just kidding. Yes, she has gone shopping a few times, but always for things we need.

Happy Turkey Day!

I may not be posting again until after Thanksgiving, so I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all get some quality time off from work and enjoy some time with friends and family. I will be traveling up to my parents' house for the day. Nothing too exciting. Just going to eat too much with the family.

Sorry, More Sports

Sunday Cleveland blew a 13 point fourth quarter lead to the dispised Baltimore Ravens. Old school Browns fans would say that Pittsburgh is the main rival of the Dawgs, but I think Baltimore should be more hated. Back in the day, Browns owner Art Modell ripped the Browns team out of Cleveland and moved them to Baltimore. Hence, the Ravens were born. I feel that every win over Baltimore is a mighty 'Fuck you Art!' Anyway, the Ravens took the lead at the end of the fourth quarter. Flashes of last week and Cleveland blowing a lead to Pittsburgh went through my head. This time, with three seconds left, Phil Dawson's 51 yard field goal attempt bounced off of the upright, bounced off of the goal post support, and out onto the field. It was called a no good kick, but when they realized that the ball hit the back of the support post (it had gone though and bounced back) it was then called a good kick. The fans had left, the Ravens had left, only the Browns were hanging around until the correct call was made. The game went to OT and the Browns won. We may be looking at a Wild Card team here.

In the BCS:

Two of the six teams above OSU lost this past week. Although the Rose Bowl is a great trip for the Buckeyes and they will play a top ranked opponent, the National Title is not out of the question:


1. LSU 10-1 - Plays a good Arkansas team and then the SEC conference championship game.
2. Kansas 11-0 - Plays #4 Missouri and possibly the Big 12 conference championship game.
3. West Virginia 9-1 - Plays #20 UConn and Pittsburgh
4. Missouri 10-1 - Plays #2 Kansas and possibly the Big 12 title game.
5. Ohio State 11-1 - Done until the Bowl Game

There you go. While unlikely that the Buckeyes will go to New Orleans for the National Title game, it is possible. At least one of the teams above OSU is going to lose. I will watch these upcoming games, hoping for the best, but still completely satisfied with a Rose Bowl game. Ohio State will likely face USC, Oregon, or Arizona State. Probably ASU, who they faced in the 1997 Rose Bowl ( I was there).

OSU 14 scUM 3

Final M*ch*g*n joke:

Q: What kind of car does Jim tressel own?
A: Lloyd Carr

It was not the most exciting game, nor was it the best game that Ohio State has played this season. However, an Ohio State win over the hated Team Up North is always a great game. Although the score of the game was pretty close, 14-3, the game was really a blow out. Ohio State held M*ch*g*n to 3 points and 91 yards. Are you kidding me? 91 yards? Can we say, "good defense"? Mike Hart was held to 44 yards on 18 carries and the Buckeye defense sacked Chad Henne enough to make the Blue's total rushing yards 15. WOW! I LOVE it considering the fact that Mike Hart was running his mouth again this year. He said something like, he'd rather lose to Appalachin State instead of losing to OSU. Really, the entire Wolverweenie offense was terrible. Their run game sucked, their pass game sucked, they could catch a cold if they tried. The Buckeye offense struggled as well, but Chris 'Beanie' Wells ran for two touchdowns, including a 62 yard run (222 yards total). It was a pretty good game all in all. It was obvious that the OSU defense showed up and was going to hold the scUM offense. Lloyd Carr is expected to retire tomorrow.

My mom sent me a list of 'Buckeye Rules' today. I won't post them all, but here are a few of the good ones:

*Never agree to get married on a Saturday that Ohio State is scheduled to play football. There are typically 40 other freakin' weekends to choose from...make her/him choose one of those!

*When Notre Dame plays Michigan, it is mandatory to despise both teams. There are no winners.

*If your child says the "M" word, send them to time out.

*If you child says it again wash their mouth out with soap.

*Admit that secretly, you wished you played tuba and could dot the "i."
You'd even be willing to put on a few dozen pounds to look the part.

*Drinking alcohol before 9:00 A.M. is, at best, immature, and likely, a sign of a serious problem. Except on Buckeye game day.

*If your wife asks you what was the greatest night of your life, admit the truth - that it was January 3, 2003

Game Time

Today is the day. The Game. OSU vs. M*ch*g*n. This game has lost a little bit of it's mistique after both teams lost their games last week. It will still be for the Big Ten Title and the winner will likely go to the Rose Bowl, but Ohio State's chances of going to the National Title game with a win over the Blue has gone into the toilet. The toilet hasn't flushed yet, but five more teams would need to lose in order for the Buckeyes to be considered in the National picture. Honestly, I am not concerned with that. Right now, all that matters is a major ass kicking to be laid upon the Wolverweenies.

Last night I watched a special on HBO about the Rilvary. It was an hour long show about how the rilvary started and where the hatred came from. It was amazing some of the comments from fans on both side of the border. I am bad with names, but a news anchor from one of the networks said something about how people from Ohio weren't as intellegent as those from M*ch*g*n. I never watched his broadcasts. Another good comment from a M*ch*g*n alumi came from a football player (I forget who, but I think he does NFL commentary now) said that he has started talking Tressel up to all of the NFL teams. "We gotta get that guy out of there." Tress has owned the Wolverweenies, only losing one game. Another great quote came from an ex-OSU player, "It smells like hot dog water (up there)."

The special went back to the 1800s when Toledo was a disputed territory between the Ohio and M*ch*g*n border. That's right Toledo-born readers. We were close to being born in M*ch*g*n. How would my perceptions have changed? My love of OSU is based on my being born in Ohio. If the dispute would have gone the other way, would I have gone to scUM? Would I be wearing maize and blue instead of scarlet and gray? The game started with scUM owning the game with something like 14 or 15 wins in a row over OSU. Then OSU won a lot and it went back and forth. There have been brawls after the game, riots after the game (on each campus) and general hatred bewteen the states.

I won't bore you with all the details of the game and the rivalry. Let's just say it is big. The documentary is a good show to watch, if you get the chance. I think that the Buckeyes should roll, especially if Hart and Henne are both hurt. OSU 35 scUM 7.

When asked why he went for two points after a touchdown late in the fourth quarter with a HUGE lead over M*ch*g*n, the late Woody Hayes answered, "Because they won't let me go for three." True Story.

Jokes for the day:

Q: What do you call a pretty cheerleader at the University of M*ch*g*n?
A: A visitor.

Q: How do you get a scUM cheerleader into an elevator?
A: Grease up her hips and throw in a Twinkie.

A Buckeye fan, a Wolverine fan, a nun and a stunning blonde are riding on a train. Suddenly the train heads into a tunnel. A loud smack is heard and as the train rides out of the tunnel the Wolverine fan is rubbing his face. The nun thinks: "Serves him right for trying to grab the blonde." The blonde thinks: "Serves him right for trying to grab the nun." The Wolverine fan thinks: "The Buckeyes fan was probably trying to grab the blonde, missed her and grabbed the nun instead. Then she tried to smack him in the face and missed." The Buckeye fan thinks: "Next tunnel I'm going to smack that stupid Wolverine fan again."

Q: Did you hear about the power outage at the University of Michigan library?
A: Forty students were stuck on the escalator for three hours.

GO BUCKS!!!

Joke of the Day

A guy named Bob received a free ticket to the OSU/Michigan game from his company. Unfortunately, when he arrived at the stadium, he realized the seat was in the last row in the corner of the stadium way back in the South Stands-- he was closer to the Goodyear blimp than to the field.

About halfway through the first quarter, he noticed an empty seat 10 rows off the field, right on the 50 yard line. He decided to take a chance and made his way down to the empty seat.

As he sat down, he asked the gentleman sitting next to him, "Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?"

The man said "No."

Now, very excited to have such a great seat for the game, Bob said, "That's incredible! Who in their right mind would have a seat like this at the OSU / Michigan game and not use it?"

The man replied, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Ohio State game we haven't been to together since we got married in 1967."

"Well, that's really sad, " said Bob. "But you couldn't find a friend or relative to come with you?"

The man replied, "No. They're all at the funeral

M*CH*G*N Joke of the day

A child is removed from his home because his parents are beating him. The social services person places him with this aunt. A month later, when the social services person checks on the boy, she learns that the aunt is beating the child as well. The child is removed again and places with his other aunt. Once again, the social services person checks in and finds the child is being beaten still. She suggests that the child be placed with is grandparents. At this, the child bursts into tears and says that, on his stays with his grandparents, he is beaten the worst of all by any of his relatives. At a complete loss. the social worker takes a strange turn and tells the boy that he can go live with anyone he wants. After some thought, the child says he wants to move to Ann Arbor to live with the M*CH*G*N football team. When asked why, he says, "After watching some of their games, I don't think they could beat anyone."

GO BUCKS!!!

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

I don't really want to talk much about the game Saturday. Needless to say, OSU fell to Illinois at home, on senior day. It was the worst performance that I have seen from OSU since the National Title Game in January. Illinois just out played and out coached the Buckeyes. It looked like a good start when OSU took a touchdown lead in the first few minutes of the game, but Illinois came right down a tied it. I do think that the refs missed a fumble that lead to an Illinois TD, but that doesn't change the fact that Illinois beat the tar out of the OSU defense. It was terrible. I was SO angry at the coaches. All that Illinois was doing in the final two drives was runnning QB draws. HELLO!!! PUT A SPY ON THE FUCKING QB!!!! Let a linebacker hang back and blast the fucker when he runs!!! Well, I must say that, after watching that game I am glad that OSU is most likely out of the title race. Oregon and LSU would most likely have pounded the Buckeyes in the title game. Now, we need to look forward to the M*ch*g*n game and, hopfully, a trip to the Rose Bowl.

The Browns lost too. They blew a 21-9 lead on the Steelers. This game had some terrible calls. It was pretty clear that these were pro-Steelers refs. I saw about three holding calls on the Steelerws that were missed, including one that was an obvious tackle in the backfield when the Browns lineman was getting close to sacking Rothlesberger. It was pathetic. Was was more pathetic was how the Browns offense rolled over and died in the second half. I was SO pissed at that game, probably even more so that the OSU game. That game shocked me more than anything.

So starts BEAT M*CH*GAN week. I would have liked to have been able to say that we were going into the game 11-0, but that is not the case. The Wolverweenies lost their game against Wisconsin, which I sorta saw coming. Both Hart and Henne sat out this game due to injuries. A few good hits on these guys and scUM's chances this Saturday could evaporate. They won't be able to beat the Buckeyes with a freshman QB. The game hasn't lost too much of the excitement, since the winner will win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl.

M*CH*G*N Joke of the day:

Q: How many University of M*ch*g*n freshmen does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. That is a second year class.

Ten Down, Two to Go

So, the Buckeyes have rolled to a 10-start again. This season is starting to look alot like last season, only it was supposed to be a 'rebuilding year'. Now, they are 10-0 number 1 in the country, and poised for another shot at a National Title. I actually think that this team is better than last year's squad. Maybe not as much pure talent, but definately a better team chemistry and attitude. However, before we get to the title game, there are still two pretty big games to play. What am I saying? These are HUGE games.

First, Illinois rolls into Ohio Staduim tomorrow. Illinios is 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Their conference losses came against 5-5 Iowa and the resurging Wolverweenies from 'up north'. they have a good offense lead by Juice Williams, who is a pretty big threat at QB, both running and passing. The game starts at 3:30 and is the final home game for the Buckeyes. That means that the crown is going to be WAY into the game. Although I think we should be able to win this game, Illinios has shown potention to cause an upset, beating both Penn State and Wisconsin.

The final game of the regular season comes against the hated Wolverweenies from M*ch*g*n. After a HUGE upset by Appalachin State and a pounding by Oregon, the 8-2 boys in blue have resurged and are tied with Ohio State in the Big Ten Standings. So, as usual, the Big Ten championship will probably come down the The Game. Not to mention the possibility of OSU going to the BCS National Title Game. A few things that Ohio State has going for them are the facts that Mike Hart and Chad Henne have both been playing hurt and they have to go to Wisconsin this week. The Badgers are probably looking to put a beat down on someone after getting beat by Ohio State last week. So, the Wolverweenies will probably be beat up pretty good when the Silver Bullets roll into Ann Arbor.

What an exciting season this has been so far. GO BUCKS!!!

Time for a New Xbox

So, I think my Xbox is dead. I was playing me some Halo last night and the game froze. So, I turned off the console, and the ring of lights that should be green were red. I think it is referred to as the Red Rind of Death. I checked the power, made sure everything was cool to the touch, tried again, and nothing. I guess I could research some more and see if it is something that can be fixed, but I bought a 2 year replacement plan from Best Buy and my Xbox is only about a year old. Can you say, 'New Xbox?' I knew you could. Actually, this is my second 360 to go down. I am SO glad I got the replacement plan. I thought it was a necessity, considering all of the performance issues reported with the Xbox 360. I am hoping that I will be able to get one of the new and improved black models.

Halo 3 killing tip:

Get a mauler (a big pistol looking thing), get in close, and shoot then hit the melee button one right after the other. The shot takes your opponents shields down instantly and the bash in the head finishes them off. Works almost everytime. The only things that can beat you at close range age the shot gun and energy sword. It's a great combo.

Another Good Game

The Browns are now 5-3 and are actually looking like a contender for the playoffs this season. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I am feeling pretty good about the Browns chances to eek into the playoffs. They were down to the Seattle Seahawks, but roared back to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Seattle was able to tie the game in the waining seconds of the game to force overtime. They then drove down the field, but were stopped by the Browns defense on a fourth and inches play. Cleveland then got into field goal range and won the game! It was the most fun I've had watching a Browns game in a long time. It was an exciting game with a great outcome!

Go Dawgs!!!

What A Game!

There were ups and downs, but mostly ups. Ohio State ended up handing Wisconsin a sound beating. The Buckeyes started a little slow at first. Sure, they were up 10-3 at the half, but Wisconsin made some good adjustments at halftime and went on top 17-10 in the third quarter. That was that, as the Buckeyes scored four unanswered touchdowns and went on to win 38-17. It was really a fun game to watch. It wasn't one of these games that OSU had won in the first quarter. The TV commentators started to say all of the "number one is on the ropes again" talk and mention how all of the top teams in the past weeks have been upset. I was getting a little worried after Wisconsin scored to go on top and then stopped OSU cold on their first drive of the second half. Then, both the offense and the defense got on track and they bowled over Wisconsin in the fourth quarter. It was great.

In other news, Boston College lost, so now there will be a new #2 in the BCS. It will probably be #5 Oregon, who beat #4 Arizona State soundly, or #3 LSU who eeked one out against # 17 Alabama. They won on a last minute TD pass. I'm not sure which team I would prefir in the #2 spot. Both are pretty good and neither team has any ranked opponents in their remaining games. I believe both teams will play in conference championship games though. Honestly, I would rather that Boston College stayed in the #2 spot, but that didn't happen. I think that Oregon has a shot at leap-frogging LSU due to their solid win over the #4 team whereas LSU struggled against the #17 team.

The Team Up North barely pulled one out against their in-state rivals Michigan State. The final score was 28-24 and scUM had to score in the closing minutes of the game to come out with the win. I have to say, they really turned their season around. After back-to-back loses to open the season, including one against a Div 1AA team, I honestly thought the Wolverweenies were going to joint Minnesota in the bottom of the Big Ten ranks this year. However, after 8 straight wins, it's starting to look like the game in The Big House is going to be a real challenge. The one thing that OSU has going for them is that Wisconsin gets a shot to beat on the boys in blue. I get the feeling that Wisconsin is going to have a chip on their shoulder after OSU handed their asses to them. They play traditional Big Ten football though, so scUM should have a good shot at winning that game. It looked like Mike Hart was banged up again yesterday, so he may not be 100% for the rest of the season.

GO BUCKS!!!

Movies I've Seen Lately

As you know, I have NetFlix. I love this service. I get at least six DVDs per week for less than $20 per month. Sure, I don't always get my first picks, but when I ask for movies that are just out it can take a while. Anyway, I get alot of TV shows that I watch and return, but when I get a movie I usually burn it a watch it at my leisure. Well, movies have been piling up. The beauty of NetFlix is, I get movies I don't really want to buy, but renting them is fine. Anyway.... :

- The Reaping - This is a movie starring Hillary Swank as a religious miracle debunkafier. Kinda like Skully from the X-files, but not with the FBI. She investigates a town that is suffering the 10 plagues that hit Egypt (frogs, locusts, rivers running with blood, etc.). It is a pretty good story, but it jumped around alot and was hard to follow at times. There were alot of twists and turns. I give it 3 of 5 stars.

- Hostel part 2 - The story of a Slyvakian hostel that lures tourists in order to sell them to killers continues. If you saw Hostel, you know the story. This movie wasn't as gorey as the first and I think the story was better in this one. 4 of 5 stars.

- The Gridiron Gang - A bad boy's version of Remember the Titans. Only The Rock plays Denzel's part and the interracial highschool football team is a group of juvie inmate gang members. The concept is the same: They have to become a team to win football games. Pretty good. Not as good as Remember the Titans. Let's face it, The Rock is no Denzel. Similar ending to a done to death story. Pretty good though. 3 of 5 stars.

- Million Dollar Baby - Another Hillary Swank film. Rocky goes chick-style. A female boxer comes out of no where to become a contender. It was actually a pretty good movie. Sad ending though. It also has Clint Eastwood as an actor and the director. He always seems to like those sad ending movies. My guess is he misses his 45 from the Dirty Harry days. 4 of 5 stars.

- Smokin' Aces - The only two things about this movie were a few good action sceens and Ben Afleck looking like a main character in the beginning, but getting killed in the first half hour. I almost turned it off, but the action sceens kept me in it. There was a twist at the end that I am sure the writer thought was creative, but it really just made me hate the movie even more. One star for the action and one star for Ben Afleck getting smoked. That's two of 5 for you non-math folks.

- 30 Days of Night - I had to go to the theaters for this one. It is a vampire movie set in a town in Alaska that has thirty days of darkness once a year. It was pretty freaky. The vampires were not like Ann Rice vampires that would wine and dine you before killing you. They were fast and brutal. There were A LOT of scares in this film. It was pretty gross at times too. I enjoyed it, but didn't like the ending. It was pretty lame. 4 of 5 stars because of the weak ending.

- Transformers - I saw this in the theater way back when, but I got the DVD too. It is really an excellent movie. Fun to watch. 5 of 5.

- Ocean's Twelve - BORING - 1 of 5 stars.

In my queue:

Night Watch - a Russian film about people with superpowers. Looked interesting.
Knocked Up - Saw it in the theater. Funny and it has hottie Katherine Heigl
1408 - Looks scary
Zodiac - about the Zodiac Killer
The Warriors - 70's cult classic movie. It's kinda corny, but a fun movie to watch.
American Psycho - NetFlix says I'll like this one
Donnie Darko - (see above)

Any other movies I need to watch? How about TV shows?

They're ALL Big Games Now

This Saturday, Ohio State plays Wisconsin in the Horseshoe. I keep saying that the game every week is the biggest game or the scariest game, but this time it may be true. Wisconsin ALWAYS makes me nervous. Although Penn State worried me last week, I wasn't as concerned as I am for tomorrow's game. Wisconsin has won something like 5 game in a row as Ohio Stadium. I had an OSU vs. Wisconsin cookout a few years back and it was a bust when Wisconsin thumped the Buckeyes. So far, the Badgers are 7-2, with their losses coming at Illinois and at Penn State. Currently they are 21st in the BCS poll, but are unranked in some of the other polls. They have a huge runningback that will be a new challenge for the Buckeye defense. Most of the backs that have run against OSU have been small, quick backs instead of big bruisers. It will be interesting to see if the OSU D-line will be able to block the holes so that they can bottle up the Wisconsin running game. I think that OSU should win, just as long the offense can keep rolling like they did at Penn State.

Speaking of Penn State, did you all see that YouTube showing the Penn State fans throwing bottles and crap at the OSU fans? If you haven't seen it, you will probably need to watch news stations since the video is being taken off of YouTube due to legal proceedings. If you missed it, basically two OSU frat boys went to their Penn State fraternity chapter (they were invited) and were berrated and abused by the pack of Nittony Lion fans. As they walked away, they were pelted by beer bottles. I told you they were assholes.

GO BUCKS!!!

Too Much Going On!!!

So much to post, so little time:



1. I mentioned in Woody's Halloween post that I am venturing into the world of satellite TV. So far, I am not impressed. Well, there have been some positives and some negatives:

Positives - 1. We have new remotes for all four TVs. With cable, you would get a remote for one TV and the rest of your TVs would have standard cable with the TV remote changing the channels. Our new set up have remotes for all TVs and the main menu comes up on all TVs. Makes channel surfing easier on the other TVs. 2. We now have the Big Ten Network, which is the whole point of this. The Wisconsin game got picked up by the Big Ten Network. 3. Free HBO and Cinemax for three months. 4. We now have 30+ HD channels, rather than the 17 we had through cable.

Negatives - 1. We have had reception issues. They either set us up wrong or put the dish in a bad spot. They are sending someone out tomorrow to hopfully fix it. 2. Our phone doesn't work since installation. I think that Sat TV needs to have a phone line and I think they plugged it into the place that our cable phone was plugged into. Nice. 3. The DVR and navagation menus aren't as user-friendly as with cable. I am starting to think I should have just switched to a cable company that had the Big Ten Network. 4. When installing in my office, then knocked down a shelf that displayed my Star Wars Legos. My office floor now looks like the result of the final battle of Return of the Jedi. And they didn't bother to tell me they did it. Assholes. 5. Whole new channel line up to memorize.



2. Last night was Trick-Or-Treating in our neighborhood. Jessica likes to decorate for Halloween, so our yard looked pretty creepy. I took pictures that you can see on my Flickr page. Gabriel was Jango fett and Alydia was the cutest (and blonde) Snow White. I tried to get a good picture of her, but she couldn't hold still. I guess Gabe was a bit of a stick in the mud and was complaining about being tired after thirty minutes. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, so 'Beggars Night' is a big to-do. Lots of homes decorate. I wanted to hide and play Xbox all night, but I was dealing with the Sat TV bullshit. We had some older kids show up for candy. At first I frowned at this, but then I remember Woody, Moe, and myself driving from house to house asking for candy.



3. I finally saw Spiderman 3 on DVD. I have to say, I was not impressed. It was OK, but I don't think it was as good as 1 or 2. It seemed like they jammed too much story into one movie. Sandman, Venom, and the Goblin? I will say that the Venom effects and the fight scenes were pretty sweet, but the rest of the film was a little weak, in my opinion. Kirsten Dunst wasn't even caught in a downpour to make her shirt wet. Her wet-shirt-nip-shots are about all she brought to the previous movies. In 3, all she brought was her bad acting and irritating snaggle tooth. I know, I'm mean.

Another Multi-Topic Post

I find it easier to post alot of things all at once. Sure, I could try to post daily, but I am not usually on my computer daily. So, I guess you just have to deal. :-)

1. OSU ROLLED over Penn State - All of the OSU doubters had the spread for this game at 4 points. Who could blame them? The last regular season game that the Buckeyes lost was at Penn State, at night, during a 'white out' (when the crowd wears all white). Saturday's game was at Penn State, at night, during a 'white out', and OSU had lost 5 of the last 7 games at Penn State. The Buckeyes, however, kicked the SHIT out of the Nittony Lions 37-17. The only reason it was that close was due to two OSU mistakes: an interception that ended an OSU scoring drive and a kickoff that Penn State ran back for a touchdown in the final minutes of the game. It was TOTAL DOMINATION by the Buckeyes. 9 and 0, with just three more games!

2. My birthday was OK. We went shopping and ran some other errands. Jessica cooked me dinner and then I lost a poker game. I got good cards, but got screwed by the cards. I flopped two pair and got beat by a straight and then I flopped a straight and got beat by a higher straight. Oh well. My parents also came to town to 'celebrate my birthday', which really means they wanted to come down to hang out with my children. I love my parents, but sometimes my mom drives me NUTS!! She has a little OCD, so she can't leave a mess alone. So, she cleaned my house, basically. Why complain, you ask? While it can be nice to have someone come clean your house, it kinda makes you feel like shit when your mom does it. It's like we don't do a good enough job, so she needs to come do it herself. I sometimes have to tell her to sit down and play with the kids. True, sometimes I leave some clothes in the dryer when I know she is coming so that she will fold it, but it can get pretty excessive. This was one of those cases. Not only was she cleaning, she was giving me looks like I wasn't doing enough. Ok, first, she invited herself down this weekend, which is ok since the kids LOVE when she visits. Second, it was my birthday weekend and I wanted to relax a bit. Instead, I was doing laundry. Can't a guy sit and watch football all weekend long? Whatever. I still love my parents, even if my mom is a little pushy at times.

3. I got a few neat OSU toys for my birthday. Jessica got me a stainless steel fflask with the OSU logo on the front and a Beat M*ch*g*n countdown clock. It can work like a regular clock, but it has a countdown mode with days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the OSU vs UM kickoff. Like this one. As of right now, there are 19 days, 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 30 seconds. My parents got me an OSU squishy pillow. I like presents.

I am old

I am taking tomorrow off to celebrate my 33rd birthday tomorrow. I can't believe that I am 33. I don't really feel like 33. I guess I have nothing to base that statement on, since I have never been 33 before, but I always used to think that people in their 30's were old. I am going to try to sleep in, relax, have my favorite dinner (schnitzel, mashed potatoes, and either peas or asparagus), maybe do some shopping, and then play some cards. I feel a little bad playing cards on my birthday, since I am sure Jessica would rather I just hang out with her, but I have a monthly game that is on the last Friday every month. Still, it should be a pretty good day. I notice that I have been reflecting on some things in my life. I don't think that there is anything I would do differently, but I have caught myself thinking 'what if' questions. I don't have any regrets though. Mostly, I have been thinking of old friends and missing certain people I don't see anymore. Luckily, most of the people I miss have blogs, so I can check in on them from time to time.

In other news, Ohio State has a HUGE game this weekend against Penn State. This is definately the game that worries me the most in this season. Well, at least until they play Wisconsin. Then Illinois. Oh, and M*ch*g*n. Man this is going to be a tough last four games. Anyway, Penn State is always a top team in the Big Ten. Add the fact that the game is in Happy Valley and a night game and it makes it double tough for the Buckeyes. The last regular season loss that OSU suffered was at Penn State at night. Ohio State is probably the better team. They definately have the better defense and if the offense can hold on to the ball, they should be able to control the game. Still, I am a little nervous about this one. The "experts" are picking OSU to win, but I'm sure they will all have a little party if the "upset bug" bites the Buckeyes in the ass.

GO BUCKS!!!

The Weekend and a rough week ahead

Time to recap the weekend:

1. Ohio State beat the shit out of Michigan State. But then two stupid OSU mistakes put the Spartans close and made a game out of it. Ohio State rolled in the first half and shut down the MSU offense. They were averaging over 400 yards of offense per game, but the Bucks held them to under 200. 14 of the MSU points were off Ohio State turnovers. Other than the fumble and the interception, the OSU offense looked great, getting points off of two 90+ yard drives. It is going to be tough this week as they travel to play Penn State, who eeked one out at Indiana. The 'experts' seem to think that it will be impossible for OSU to go undefeated this season, but I honestly haven't seen a great game from any of the other Big Ten schools that the Buckeyes play in the upcoming weeks.

2. The Indians prooved that it sucks to be an Ohio sports fan. Aside from the 2002 OSU National Title, I can't really remember an Ohio team winning a championship. The Cavs blew it in the NBA last year, the Buckeyes blew it in both football and basketball last year, the Browns have sucked since returning to the NFL, Cincinnati Bengals had a close-but-no-cigar season last year, the Columbus Destroyers lost the Arena Boal last year, and the Columbus Bluejackets have never played a playoff game. Well, at least Johnny must be happy about the Indians dropping three in a row in the ALCS. Honestly, I knew the Indians were in trouble when they got their butts handed to them in games 5 and 6. If I were more of a baseball fan, I would be upset.

3. I got to do the fun chore of putting a new post in the ground for my mailbox. The old post broke. It was either dry rot, or someone knocked it over. I think it was just dry rot though. The wook looked pretty bad. It was a pain to dig up the post though, what with the concrete holding it into place. I hope I did a good job putting in the new post. It is level and all, but I never worked with concrete before. I worry that I may have used too much water or didn't give it enough time to dry. Well, at least the mailbox is back up.

As for the week ahead, I am taking this Friday off, so I only have to work 2 days. Woo-Hoo!

Bad Feelings

1. It is not good to be in the NCAA football top five this year. You may say, "Why Eric, it is good to be in the top five. Then you have a chance to play for the National Title." While this is true, i the first seven weeks of the football season, 11 teams that were ranked over then #12 Ohio State have all lost, moving the Buckeyes up to #1. Another team that benefited from the fall of so many teams was #2 South Florida. The Bulls were undefeated and poised for a Cinderella season if they could win out to go to the title game. Well, they didn't. Another top five team has fallen from grace. Rutgers beat SFU 30-27 last night. Rutgers shuold be used to it since they beat #3 Louisville last season in a similar fasion.

2. The Indians sucked a big one last night, losing to the Red Sox 7-1. The Indoans' pitching was terrrible and their hitting was terrible too. Now they have two games in Boston. I am getting a bad feeling about this. The Red Sox are a very good team and they could easily win three in a row to go to the world series.

3. Ohio State starts the main part of their Big Ten season tomorrow. I have a bad feeling after seeing all of these other top ten teams get dropped. Michigan State always seems to play OSU hard. The Buckeyes will need to bring their A game for the rest of the season if they want to go unscathed through the rest of the year. I doubt that they will get tot he National Title Game as a one loss team.

More Stuff

1. Anyone have satellite TV? I was thinking about getting Direct TV, but have never had anything but cable TV. I have been worried about bad reception from satellite TV. Plus, I would have to learn a whole new channel scheme. I am already pretty much set up for satellite. At least we have a dish on the roof already. There are two reasons I want to make the change: 1. the Big Ten Network and 2. They are adding a ton of HD channels (over 100). Time Warner doesn't have half that amount. Let me know if you have satellite and if you like it.

2. The Indians are up big in the series against the Red Sox (3 games to 1). The series could be over tonight, if the Tribe can pull out another win. They would face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. I don't know how excited I am about that. The Rockies are something like 19-1 in their last 20 games. That is crazy.

3. You can call me Lou. I am now a lieutenant in the Halo 3 multi player world. I don't know if that is because I am good or just because I have played alot. I win some games, but others I get my ass handed to me. Mostly, I am a solid 2nd or 3rd place. There are a few maps that I excel and a few that I blow chunks. I guess it depends on if I know where the good weapons are.

A Good Weekend

1. I didn't have to work, which is always nice

2. Already mentioned in the previous post that OSU won. Now we know they are #1 in the BCS poll. GO BUCKS!!!

3. The Indians split the first two games at Boston, so the series is tied one one and they are heading back to Cleveland for game 3. Go Tribe!!!

4. The Browns won yesterday, taking down the Miami Dolphins. The Browns are now 3-3. I don't know if they will make the playoffs, but they are looking pretty good to go .500 for the season. Still alot of football to play.

5. Friday night was Halo Heaven. Some of my buddies and I got on Xbox Live and teamed up. We had 7 people playing most of the time, so we mostly did Slayer (free-for-all) but when we dropped down to 6 people, we started playing team Slayer. We even banded together for some 6 vs 6 team slayer against other teams. IT WAS GREAT!!!! The best was when we were in a six man team and were placed in a 'Shotty and Sniper' game. You get unlimited shot gun and sniper rifle rounds. Anyway, someone on my team said they hated shotty and sniper, so I said we could veto the map if we wanted to. Someone on the other team said something like we were gay if we vetoed, we were pussys, and we we all N---ERS!!! Can you believe it? Well, Tommie (one of my teammates) is a black guy, so we didn't take kindly to that remark. Let's just say that kicked it up a notch that game. We won, and of my team's 50 kills, I had 19 (I LOVE Shotty and Snipers). Nine of my 19 kills I kicked the shit out of the ignorant jackass that dropped the N-bomb. Asshole.

In The Driver's Seat

It was another good weekend for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Not only did they crush Akron 48-3, like they should have, but the number one and two teams both got beat. This should put Ohio State in the driver's seat for another run at the National Title. the BCS ranking come out today, and OSU should be either #1 or #2.

First, #1 LSU wass downed by #17 Kentucky. No, they weren't playing basketball. Apparently, KU went out and got themselves some football players this season. The game went to three overtimes until LSU finally got stopped on a 4th and 2 play. It looked like they ran the exact same play all four downs. I think that, after being stuffed the first few tries, they might have thought about a pass play. Oh well.

Second, the Oregon State Beavers topped Cal by three points. I could no believe how badly Cal screwed up. They were down ten points, with just a few minutes to play. They took the ball and quickly scored a TD to get within 3 point. Then, they got the ball back with about a minute left. They again drove down the field to get well within fieldgoal range. On the last play of the game (with about 13 seconds left) the Cal QB took the ball, looked for someone to pass to for the win, but then tucked the ball away and ran with it. He was stopped short, they were out of time outs, and the clock ran out before the field goal team could get on to the field. In this case, the coach should have said, "If no one is open, THROW THE BALL AWAY!!!!!" Apparently he didn't, and they lost. Oh well.

Now, Ohio State has the meat of their schedule coming up. LOTS of scary games to play. The last four teams could all potentially be ranked when they face OSU. However, if the defensekeeps playing the way they have been and the offense can keep the ball rolling, I think these are all games OSU should win:

Michigan State - Beat the tar out of Indiana yasterday. They were also close in their losses to Wisconsin (37-34) and Northwestern (48-41). Michigan State always plays OSU tough.

@Penn State - The last time OSU went to Happy Valley, they got their butts whipped. It was a night game and the fans did a 'white out' where they all dress in white. This year, it is another night game. I am really worried about this game after PSU beat the crap out of Wisconsin 38-7.

Wisconsin - I am a little less worried about this game after Penn State dismantled the Badgers. Wisconsin is pretty beat up this season, with both of their starting wide receivers out for the year. Still, Wisconsin always seems to be the one game that OSU falls asleep for.

Illinois - Illinios is a strange team this year. they have won some big games, but just lost to the Big Ten kicking post, Iowa 10-6. It was an U.G.L.Y (you ain't got no aliby) game.

@M*ch*g*n - scUM is a having a weird season this year. they dropped their opener to Appalachin State and the next game against Oregon, but are #2 in the Big Ten after winning their last five games. It looks like they are back on course and a scary opponent.

GO BUCKS!!!

Some stuff

1. Season 1 of 30 Rock is on free viewing o NetFlix.com. I don't watch it normally, but I think I like it. It's very reminiscent of Seinfeld. It's not like Seinfeld, but it has the same kind of feel and humor. It kind of sneaks up on you. I may put it on my DVR schedule. I can't believe how much I like Alec Baldwin.

2. Game 1 of the Indians against the Red Socks starts tonight. However, it is going to clash with some Halo 3 action. I think we are going to have about 6 or 7 people in the party. It should be a good time.

3. OSU gets to knock around another in state 'rival' this Saturday. Kent State rolls into town tomorrow. I am not sure if it will be on TV or not. I may be one of the games that got put on the Big Ten Network. Hopfully there will be some other good games to watch.

4. I drove myself crazy bowling last night. I started out with a 224 and finished the night with a 150. How do I drop 74 pins from one game to the next? I couldn't figure it out.

5. The parents are in town this weekend. My mom goes through withdrawals when she doesn't see the kids frequently enough. It is always nice to see them, but I always feel like I need to do chores. My mom is a major busy body. She can't sit still and she can't pass a mess without cleanig it up. It is kinda nice though, I can leave a load of laundry in the dryer and the next thing that I know, it is folded.

Go Tribe!

So, Cleveland offed the hated New York Yankees this week. I know, I probably shouldn't be posting baseball since I am not a huge fan, but I can't help it. It is so rare that we Cleveland fans get something to cheer about. The Browns are terrible, the Cavs got their asses handed to them in the NBA finals, and the Indians have been out of grace for about ten years. One thing is making me angry though. It is the same thing that pisses me off about all national sports coverage: instead of talking up the Indians, the new is all about what's happening with the Yankees. Who fucking cares? I guess it is a big deal since they have all these good players that are probably going their own way now, but isn't the stopry supposed to be Cleveland vs Boston? The Goat is talking trash about it already. Big suprise, eh? I lost my password to his blog, or I would give him my two cents. At least he shares my 'fuck the Yankees' attitude. He's just looking beyond the Indians. I hope the Red Socks do that too. I heard a commercial for the series calling the Indians the "Cinderella Indians". What the FUCK??? Cinderella? To me the term 'Cinderella' means a team that is not supposed to be in the race. Live St Mary's College For the Blind in the NCAA tourney. THAT would be a Cinderella team. The the Indians had the best record in the MLB. Does THAT sound Cinderella? Another reason why I hate the media. Ohio sports get no respect until AFTER then win the titles.

Another example of this: I watched a college football show yesterday and there was a story about LSU, USC, Cal, and they were showing scenes from M*ch*g*n's stadium. Nothing about Ohio State. It's OK though. It is better to fly under the radar until you win it all. then no one sees you coming.

New Link

I added a new link to my blog yesterday. It's nothing too exciting, but if you want to see where my ancestors are from, take a peek. It is a family tree that my Uncle Terry researched and created. It goes pretty far back too. The only catch is that some of the information may not necessarily be correct. Some of the records have been lost due to fire, war, people moving around, etc. so there are gaps here and there. It is neat that there are pictures too. Basically, my uncle has been sending letters to anyone that has the last name Rhodes and has lived in or has relatives in the area of my ancestors.

I am also adding all of my CD music to my IPod. I have a 30G IPod and it is half empty, so I figured I would fill it up more. It is going to take a while. I forgot how many CDs I have that have fell out of the listening rotation. I either forget I have them or I only like one or two songs on the album. I think I will listen to a wider variety of my music now after I get it all on the Ipod. I may even get creative and make some playlists, like a 'one hit wonder' list for those bands that I only like one song.

The Browns got their asses kicked yesterday and the Indians dropped on to the Yankees. Not a good day for the Cleveland teams. As expected though, OSU is now #3 in the ranking.

How Do You Show You Deserve To Be Top Five?

Kick the shit out of the #23 team in their own house. And that is just what Ohio State did to Perdue yesterday. Ohio state shut down the Perdue offense allowing only 4 yards of rushing. The game could have been a lot worse for Purdue, since Todd Boeckman gave away three interceptions. They were all deep passes, so they were almost like punts, but the score could really have been something like 45-7 instead of 24-7. Also, OSU dropped about four possible interceptions. It was a little frustrating seeing these mistakes, but OSU totally out played Perdue. The only touchdown that Perdue could muster was in the final minutes of the game when the first string defense was pulled.

A few other good things that happened for the Buckeyes:

1. USC fell asleep and lost one to Stanford. Stanford scored alast minute touchtown to go on top. Since USC was #2 and OSU is #4, we are at least going to be #3 this week.

2. Wisconsin got HANDLED by Illinios. Sure the score was 31-26, but the Illini really out played Wisconsin. This creates a weird situation in the Big Ten. The 'top' two teams that were predicted to win the Big Ten, Wisconsin and M*ch*g*n, are both needing someone else to lose in order to be in the Big Ten title chase. I guess M*ch*g*n is 2-0 in the Big Ten, but their overall record will take them out of the chase in the long run. As you can see, Illinois is the big suprise this year.


Big Ten Standings
TEAM
CONF. W-L
OVERALL W-L
Ohio State
3-0
6-0
Illinois
3-0
5-1
Michigan
2-0
4-2
Wisconsin
2-1
5-1
Indiana
2-1
5-1
Purdue
1-1
5-1
Penn State
1-2
4-2
Northwestern
1-2
3-3
Michigan State
0-2
4-2
Iowa
0-3
2-4
Minnesota
0-3
1-5

Indians against the Yankees: 2 and 8

I am not a huge baseball fan. I am an Indians fan, but not an avid fan. I will watch a few innings if there is nothing else on, but in general, I get my Indians updates on the news. If they win, cool. I just can't get excited about a season that has over 100 games played just to see who gets into the playoffs. I think I have some ADD. But the playoffs is something I can get up for. Well, the Indians are in the playoffs and are taking on the Yankees. In the regular season, the Indians are 0-8 against the Yankees. A little scary. However, in the post season, the Indians are 2-0 against the Yankees. Yeah! That is why I don't get excited about the regular season. The games don't really mean that much. At least not until September when there is a race to see who gets the playoff spots. As an Indian fan, I HATE the Yankees. I also dislike any team that throws huge amounts of cash around to try to buy a title. I don't think that should be allowed. What do I know though? Well, one more win and the Indians will polish off the Yankees and the pinstripes will take their big paychecks home for the season. Rough life. GO TRIBE!!

Scary game tonight: OSU vs Perdue. A top 25 opponent in a hostile environment scares me a little. They are doing a 'black out' at Perdue, where the fans all wear black. I am not sure that this a good strategy for a night game. Sure it will be loud, but the fans in black will blend in to the darkness. If the offense keeps rolling, it should be a Buckeyes victory.

GO BUCKS!!

More Updates

Sorry for the blogging of multiple topic lately. Hopfully it makes it easier for y'all to pick and choose what you want to read.

1. Halo 2 vs Halo 3 - I finished the Halo 3 campaign. It was fun. I liked the ending (?). It was a conclusion that was satifying and kinda left an opening for Halo 4. All in all, I like 3 alot more than I liked Halo2. Why? Xbox Live. The multi player games are F U N. I am getting better too. I am a level 5 Spartan now and I have actually won several matches. I am EZE2112 if you want to test me.

2. My NCAA 08 football record is getting better. I am on a 4 game win streak. The difference in my game has definately been my offensive skills. I am juking more and am able to break tackles, plus I am getting good at audibles when needed. I LOVE spreading the defense with 5 wide receiversand making a hot read to a quick pass under the coverage. I haven't been stopped since adopting this strategy.

3. BSG...... Razor??? - When watching the disappointing Eureka season finale, I saw a commercial that caught my eye. Apparently there is a BSG spin off already. It called BSG - Razor. I don't know much about this show yet, but they are having two minute teasers during Flash Gordon on Fridays. I doubt I will DVR Flash for this, but the flashbacks will be on the SciFi.com much like the Resistance BSG webisodes. Anything BSG should be good, in theory. I just hope they do not ruin the franchise with this spin off. As a side note, I think BSG starts this month. WOO-HOO!!

4. Speaking of NCAA 08, I finally finshed my first Dynasty. Ohio State is the NCAA 08 National Champions after beating USC. I got an achievement, won some awards...it was pretty anti-climactic. Still, gamer points are gamer points.

5. I was considering buying the new World Series of Poker Xbox game. I need to check and see how many people are still playing online with the old game before I upgrade. I guess there will be some cool features in the new version, but if I can play multi player online with the old version, I see no need to upgrade. I rarely play the career mode.

Sorry this was so Xbox heavy in content. I guess there isn't too much going on at the moment. Still, Xbox is pretty fun in my book.

Weekend Updates

1. Good weekend for OSU football. Ohio State won at Minnesota, #5West Virginia lost, #3 Oklahoma lost, #4 Florida lost, and #7 Texas Lost. This means that the Buckeyes have leapt from #8 to #4 in one weekend. Woody is happy too since his Cincinnati Bearcats are climbing the charts too. I just hope that the guy I poked fun at on his post doesn't show up on my door step later in the week. I just wish I know how Woody keeps getting his picture taken with hot college girls.

2. It was a good football weekend all around as the Cleveland Browns won too. They beat the hated Baltimore Ravens. I say 'hated' because the Ravens were the Browns before the traitor Art Modell ripped the team from Cleveland and went to Baltimore. I feel like a turd, since I picked the Browns to lose in my Pick'em game. After seeing them lost to the Raiders last week, I lost some faith in my boys. Never again though. I am going to pick Cleveland for every game now. Especially since they seem to play up to their opponents. They are 2-2 and #2 in their division. Who'd a thunk it?

3. I am almost though the campaign for Halo 3. At least I think I am. It just has a climactic feel building up. The game has been alot more fun that Halo 2. The new weapons and gadgets are fun. I found a flame thrower that kills good. I also got into some multi-player games. I thought I would get my ass kicked alot, but held my own. Out of six games I played, I got my ass kicked twice, was in the middle of the pack twice, and was the top Spartan twice. One of the games, I had so many kills that the other players were actually teaming up against me. I was getting a little irritated, but my 25 kills beat their combined 24 (10, 10, and 4). I need to figure out how to join some team slayer games and how to host my own games. I have about 10 friends that have the game.

4. I played some dards Friday night. Two games, I came in second for the first one and lost badly the second one. It was fun though.

Hodgepodge

What a fun word: hodgepodge.

1. OSU takes on Minnesota this Saturday. The game is going to be a late game and will be televised. Our neighbors are having a party and the game on a big screen, and the invite said that the local news channel will be broadcasting live from the party. We may go, but I don't know for sure. OSU is favored big against a struggling Golden Gophers squad.

2. Bionic Woman was good. You can definately tell that the Battlestar Galactica creators are behind the Bionic Woman. Not only the writing, but the cameos from BSG actors. Cheif Tyrol and Starbuck are in guest spots, and the lawyer from Baltar's trial is a permanent fixture on the show. It stinks though, because Bionic Woman is on at the same time as Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and Criminal Minds. I am in DVR HELL!! I actually had to dig up a VHS tape and record BW the old scool way.

3. Bowling last night was OK. I was a little below average, but considering I set a losty average of 199 the first week, I was bound to slip a little. I think I ended up with a 540 series (about a 180 average) so I will drop down overall to a much more managable 190 average. I guess my dreams of joining the PBA are going to shit. Still it is always a fun night out.

4. I am going to try again to diet. It is SO hard considering my love of food and drink. Protein, salad, and water doesn't make for an exciting dining experience. Still, when I eat junk food, like I have this week, I feel like crap. Mostly worn down and I always have terrible heartburn. When I eat healthy, no heartburn.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. GO BUCKS!!

Halo 3 Overview

Woody is leary about it, but Lefty loves it. Halo 3 was released at 12:01 am Monday night (Tuesday am, technically). I posted about H3 already, but that was back when all I had to write about was the Beta test they had on Xbox Live. Now, I have the full version and have been playing alot of it. Not as much as Lefty, who said that he finished the campaign already. I am getting there, but I am trying to pace myself. My complaint about H2 was that the campaign seemed short, but that was probably because I played it non stop. I decided that I am going to complete the campaign, maybe twice, before I start gettingmy ass handed to me by 12 year olds on Xbox Live in the Slayer Pit.

So far, H3 has been alot of fun. There haven't been any big suprises like in Halo or H2. At least not yet. From reading Lefty's post, it seems as though there may be. There are a few changes to game play, but mostly more weapons and more vehicles. For example, if you find a gun turret, you can rip it off it's mount and run around with it. The only down side is that it is heavy and slows you down and it will run out of ammo and can't be reloaded. There are new gadgets too, which is a complete change for the Halo games. There is a bubble shield, deployable cover, power drainer, portable lift, trip mines, flares, and something that regenerates you. I won't go into all of their different uses, because I forget I carry them most of the time. Still, they add a nice new element to the game. I'm not going to spoil any secrets or suprises. However, if you have ab Xbox 360 and end up getting Halo 3, my XBox Live ID is EZE2112.