Stuff

Ohio State won this weekend and moved up into the top ten of the BCS poll. I do not forsee them getting into the National Title game, but a BCS Bowl game would be nice. I just would not be thrilled about a USC rematch. True, the offense is better with Wells back in the game a Pryor running the offense. They are certainly a hot and cold team. They kicked the crap out of Michigan State and Northwestern, but looked flat and weak against Penn State and USC. It is the 'big game' this weekend against M*ch*g*n. The Wolverweenies are having their worst season EVER with 8 losses already, but rivalry games always have a way of bringing the best out of a squad. Ohio State should be OK though. I don't think 'Rich-Rod' gets the rivalry enough to get the motivate the Maize and Spiew.

I bought Gears of War 2 last week. I think I have an Xbox addiction. I finished Fable 2 again. I wanted to take a break from it before starting over again as a bad guy. I was able to find and shoot all of the gargoyles and I bought all of the big properties I wanted to buy. I will play again as an evil person in a while. Anyway, Gears of War 2 is pretty fun so far. It is a shooter, but from the third person point of view. It is a little weird to get used to at first, but is a neat change of pace. The game really makes you feel like you are in it as the main character of a movie. Fun stuff. As with all shooters though, the button schemes are different from every other game, so it makes it hard to play Call of Duty 4. You expect to throw a grenade and reload instead.

Oh Yeah. There's a Game Today

Well, the OSU season has lost some of it's excitement now that the National Title and the Big Ten Title are both pretty much out of the picture. Sure, every team above OSU could lose the rest of their games like last season, but that is highly unlikely. In case you care, my prediction for the title game is Penn State against Texas Tech. Ohio State should go to the Rose Bowl if they can win out, but they would likely play USC again. Yikes. Anyway, today Ohio State plays at Northwestern. Northwestern is a much better team this year than they have been in the past and this game is not a sure win for the Buckeyes. They SHOULD win, with the better talent, but their execution has been weak. Still, I am not a fair weather fan, so I will be watching and cheering on my Buckeyes. GO BUCKS!!

Fun night....mostly

I had a pretty fun night last night. As you may know, Thursdays are made for bowling and poker. It was actually a 'hot and cold' night. First the hot part of bowling. I was hitting my mark from the word go. My first game was a 241. I started out with five strikes and then missed. My second game was better at a 258. Then, (I think it was the beer) I started screwing up. I threw a few splits, missed a few easy spares, and rolled a 165. Nice 90+ pin drop off, eh? I hit my 650 goal I mentioned yesterday, but could have rolled a 700+. It upset me a bit. On top of that, the team we bowled against was HOT. They kicked our asses. They had a new guy on the team and he rolled a 220 average. Yikes. The other guys did really well too and my team was a little off.

Poker went the same way. At first, our usual game was called off because no one had shown. So, My bowling buddies started a little game at the bowling ally. It turned into a decent sized game of 8 players until the bowling ally management asked us to stop. I won $30 there. I then got a call from our usual poker site saying game was on. I went over there and dropped $20. I got terrible cards. Still, all in all I had a fun night. I stayed up too late. I am dead tired now.

good things

Barack won. I think this is cool for us little people. Maybe not so much for huge corporations though. Hopefully he and the new Democrats will make our country what it should be and help out us poor folk. This is the first time ever I was excited about an election.

I really can't say enough about Fable 2. It is like video game crack to me. I thought I was addicted to Halo 3, but this is something bigger. I get lost in the world of Fable 2 sometimes. I crave it other times. It may actually start becoming a problem for me if I can't get it under control. Just kidding. I am getting excited though. There are 50 gargoyles around the Fable 2 world that, if you shoot them all, will give you the 'ultimate reward'. Three of the gargoyles require that you buy pricey buildings in order to find them. So, I would find items on sale in one region and sell them for a gain in another region. It is best to do this with weapons. One blacksmith gave me such a huge discount that I was able to double my money a few times. So far, I have bought two of the buildings and shot 49 of 50 gargoyles. The last one requires that I finish the main game, go back into the world, and buy one last building for $1 mil. I have a half mil in gold now, but am not too sure if I can top the 1 mil mark. Still, I will be excited if I get it. I am not too sure what the 'ultimate prize' will be and how fun it would be to get it after the game is pretty much over. I am playing as a female now. A lesbian though, because I thought it would be weird to flirt with the male characters in the game. I have my girl dressed in a goth outfit with black makeup. I don't know why. This game is crazy fun.

I am still holding my bowling average in the 190s. I has a rough go the first week of rolling my new ball, but the last few weeks I have done well. Currently, my team is in second place and we bowl the #1 team tonight. I am hoping for a big night. I am happy with myself when I hit my average, which means a 576 series. I am shooting for a 650 series this week though. If I get on track early, I should be able to hit it. My new ball is working exactly the way I hoped.

Go Vote

Thank goodness that all of these obnoxious political ads are about to come to an end. Only a few ore days of hearing about the evils of Barack Obama. Sorry John. I'm not buying it. I have heard far too many things coming out of Obama's mouth to believe all the nasty half truths coming out of McCain's camp. I haven't heard anything about how McCain is going to help me other than letting the rich keep getting richer off of the goods and services that my family needs to survive. I don't mean I want small businesses to be overly taxed so that I can save on health care, gas, and food. I mean that the companies that are making billions selling the products I need should be put into check a bit. For example, the financial companies that we are bailing out are still paying out millions of dollars in bonuses to the people that fucked up the economy. That should not be happening. Medical companies ignore some deadly diseases because they are not profitable enough to cure. That is bullshit. Gas companies are posting record earnings while I can only put a half tank of gas into my car. I'm just glad I don't need to drive to work anymore. My meager money would become even more meager. Well, in that nut shell, I am planning on voting for Obama.

I am also voting to pass the Hilliard school levy, and probably voting for the casino in Ohio. The ads of the casino are confusing because they contradict each other. One side say that the casino owner could pay no taxes, the other side say that plenty of money will go to Ohio. My friend Jesse put it into perspective for me though. Honda has a factory in Ohio. Those profits go to Japanese companies. Why would it be so bad for a casino, creating thousands of Ohio jobs, to send its earnings out of state? Ohio is still going to get its $20mil out of the deal. Plus I doubt that law makers would propose a law that would screw the state. There has to be some checks and balances put in so that Ohio doesn't get screwed. Besides, the main sponsor for the ads against the casino are Indiana casinos. They don't want all that Ohio money they earn staying in Ohio. I know that, if the Ohio casino has poker, I probably won't go to the Indiana casinos at all.

What the Hell am I Supposed to do Tomorrow?

It looks like Ohio State has a bye week tomorrow. I hate bye weeks. I guess it is not too bad, considering the heart breaker last week. I guess there are still some good games tomorrow to keep me occupied. I guess I will have to pay attention to my kids or something. I guess there's always my Xbox!

I Screwed a Prostitute Yesterday

Did that get your attention? Well, it's true. Twice. Ok, ok.....it was in Fable 2, the latest game I am obsessed with. I lost some of my character's goodness, and risked my character getting some VD, but thought that the option of hookers in a game was hilarious. Seriously though, if you like games that you can get lost in all day, Fable 2 is GREAT. GREAT. GREAT!!!! Not only are there the main quests that get you through the game, there are side quests that make the game more interesting. Plus, unlike some games where, if you kill bad guys then the area is clear for the rest of the game, bad guys keep popping up from time to time when you are walking through the landscape. There are also fun treasues all over the place. GOSH I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!!

I think I need to get Showtime

I have been watching a lot of shows that have been on Showtime lately. I thought that HBO had the corner on great shows with the Sopranos, butit turns out that Showtime has some really good stuff too.

I started watching Dexter online though NetFlix. It is about a serial killer, named Dexter, who also works for the police and a CSI type guy. He is kind of like a vigilante in that he only kills people that he knows are bad guys. It sounds a bit out there, but it is a really good show.

I then decided to give Californication a try. This one stars David Ducovney of X-Files fame as a writer that moved to LA and is now a sex fiend. It is pretty good too. He hooks up with this really hot girl in the first episode only to find out that she is the 16 year old daughter of his ex-wife's new boyfriend. Oops. It's a funny show.

This weekend, I started watching Weeds online, also though NetFlix. It is about a suburban housewife whose husband dies. In order to support her family, she starts selling pot in her neighborhood and around town. I think I am addicted to this show now. It is kind of funny, kind of crazy, and definately good.

All three of these shows are on Showtime. HBO is OK still and we watch Trueblood on it, so I guess in order to keep my satellite bill the same, I need to drop Cinimax and order Showtime. Sure, I will miss the soft porm on 'Skinimax', but that's OK. :-)

Fuck

OSU lost. They had the game won, fumbled the ball, and lost. Fuck.

Oh yeah, and I'm older now. Fuck.

Big Game Tonight

Ok, the biggest game of the year to date. #3 Penn State is invading the Horseshoe tonight. ESPN's Game Day will be there and this is shaping up to be the game of the week around the nation. I'm not too sure how I feel about this game. It should be close either way. Both teams match up pretty well with great defenses, good running games, and mobile quarterbacks. Penn State might have the edge in the passing game unless Ohio State switches Boeckman in and out of the game. I guess Pryor is doing fairly well passing, but he is still a bit tennative and takes too much time trying to find a reciever. Kick off is at 8:00 tonight.

There are more big games today. #8 Texas Tech vs #23 Kansas, #6 Oklahoma vs #1 Texas, #7 Georgia vs #13 LSU, #2 Alabama vs Tennessee, Kentucky vs #10 Florida. Let's just say that, if a bunch of underdogs win today, Ohio State could be back in the National Title hunt. I'm not sure if that is a good thing, since the whole country (except for Ohio) would hate Ohio State back in the National Title hunt. Still, six teams ranked ahead of Ohio State could potentially lose today. Still, we need to take care of business tonight before looking ahead to bowl games.

Go bucks!

Fable 2

I posted about Fable way back in the day. It is a quest type game where you go around killing bad guys with a sword, crossbow, and magic. I really loved Fable. I played it through three or four times. You can play it to be a good guy or a bad guy and the story changes depending on your choices. TONS of fun. Anyway, Fable 2 is out now for the Xbox 360. I bought it and am loving it just as much. I can play it all day and not notice the time fly by. Though the game is pretty the same as the old version, there are some neat changes.

1. you get a doggie. In the old game, there were treasures buried and hidden all over the place. the same is true in Fable 2, but instead of hunting for the trinkets yourself, you have a dog that sniffs things out for you. It also helps you fight.

2. The game is set 500 years after Fable. Most of the magic is gone from the land and technology is creeping in. Aside from bows and crossbows, you can buy pistols and muskets. I haven't used one yet though because I have a good crossbow that works well.

3. You can get married in both games, but in Fable 2, you can also have kids and go to whores. I think it is funny. If you go to a whore, you could catch a disease, so of course, they provide condoms too. What a great game! I haven't found a whore yet, but since I am playing as a good guy I don't want to partake in the hookers. It might make my good guy status decrease.

4. One negative change is that there are alot more things that your character can do. It sounds good, but in the old game you could assign spells and actions to buttons. In Fable 2, you can access all sorts of things, but you have to press the right bumper botton, select what you want, and then your action takes place. It sucks in a fight when you want to use a specific spell and are hindered by the lack of speed and ease.

All in all, Fable 2 is a load of fun. If you like this sort of game, I highly recommend it.

Plenty o' Posts

I keep thinking of things to post in the evening, but then forget what I want to post about. I think I thought of three things last night, but can only remember one. That's OK though. It is a pretty involved subject. I think....

True Blood is now playing on HBO. You may think, "A TV show, Eric? Not very involved...." When I saw the trailers, I didn't think much about it and doubted I would like it very much. Jessica is really into vampire stories though, so we watched it. Now, I think I am going to call this one of my favorite shows to watch. Of course, BSG, Doctor Who, and some of my other favorite shows are off the air at the moment, so I may just be filling in the void.

True Blood isn't like your every day vampire story. It has some of the same weaknesses and similarities to other vampire stories. Sunlight, fire, and stakes through the heart can kill them. However, they have reflections, no fear of crosses or garlic, and in this story they have come out of the vampire closet, so to speak. They live in the open. True Blood is what they call synthetic blood so they don't need to eat people all the time. This show really has alot of interesting aspects. The main character, Sookie (I know, right?) is able to read people's minds and she falls for a vampire named Bill. Apparently, she can't read vampire minds, so that is a big turn on for her. There are prejudices between vamps and people and a killer on the loose to add to the drama. It's quite interesting. I recommend True Blood if you have the chance to see it.

I almost called this post "I Saw Rogue's Boobies." Anna Paquin plays 'Sookie'. For those of you that remember, she was Rogue in the X-Men movies. She isn't exactly who I would have cast in the roll of the (in my opinion) the hottest X-Man. I had a huge teen-comicbook-fan crush on Rogue in my teen years. My teen-comicbook-fan crush list went Kitty Pryde, Gen 13, Rogue, Mystique, and Jean Grey. If I put them in order, I would make Mystique #1 because she can change her shape. Want a badonkadonk butt? She can do that. Anyway, understanding that I had a teen comicbook crush on Rogue, when Anna Paquin showed her boobies on True Blood, it was interesting for me. There was nothing spectacular about them, other than the teen perve inside me thinking to myself, "I just saw Rogue's boobies!" It was actually a bit suprising to me because I didn't think Anna Paquin would do a nude scene. She was always a bit innocent in anyother films I had seen her in.

New Ball

I went out and ordered myself a new bowling ball yesterday. It was a bit pricey, but there is a mail in rebate for a $100 gas card. You better believe I'm sending that in ASAP. It is called a Brunswick Twisted Fury Solid. I didn't get it online though, because I don't trust them to drill it correctly. I could buy it online and have it drilled at the pro shop, but they usually charge $50 to drill an online ball. They would prefer that you buy the ball in house, which is what I did. I pick it up tonight. I would rather have picked it up yesterday, but they were sold out of the ball I wanted. Plus, for some reason, most people get 15 pound balls rather than 16 pounders. I prefer 16 pound balls. Otherwise I roll the ball too hard. Hopfully, it works out well for me.

Sad Game

Jessica and I went to watch Ohio State look pathetic as if chalked up a win against Perdue. It was a good time, but a boring game. The only touchdown scored was when OSU blocked a punt and returned it for the score. Other than that, Ohio State scored three field goals and Perdue one field goal. With the running talent on the field of Pryor and Wells, there is no way that the Buckeyes shouldn't have run all over the worst defense in the Big Ten. The only thing to hang their hat on is that the Buckeyes defense was pretty impressive, holding Perdue to only three points. I had the best seats of my OSU watching career. We were in B deck, so we were out of the sun for the whole game. Plus there were TVs there so we could see replays and catch other scores from the games around the country. Toledo beat Michigan? Seriously??? hehe.

We took the kids with us, along with my parents, and we all watched the Skull Session. It is the pre-game warn up of the Ohio State Marching Band. the kids seemed to like it. We got there late, so we had to take seats way up in the nose bleed section. I was a little irritated. My parents used to go to every Skull Session when I was in the band. I felt that they should have remembered that we would need to get there sooner to guarantee good seats. Oh well. The kids also got to meet Brutus the Buckeye and hit a bass drum.

A Broken Record

I am repeating post. Well, kinda. Revisiting topics, I guess.

- Another good week of bowling. As previously mentioned, my team has been undefeated so far this season. There is still a long way to go though. Last night we bowled out nemisises (plural nemisis...nemisees?) a team that always takes us to the wood shed. They tried last night. Three of their bowlers had 600+ series (three games of 200+) Luckily, my buddy Jesse and I were pretty hot too and were both over 600 as well. Add in out handicap from our weaker bowlers and we were able to split the night. We won two games, but lost the team series point. We are still in first place by one point. I rolled a 234, 171, and 221. I missed a few easy spares, so I am still a bit miffed, but I was hammering strikes.

-more politics (sorry) - I watched a little of the Presidential debate this past week. I couldn't stomach much of it though, since half of the talking was done by McCain. It made me want to vote Democrat even more. Everything he said seemed to be in avoidance of every question he was asked. His best tactic seemed to be to say, not what he would do in a certain situation, but what Obama would do to make things worse. The most amazing thing he said was in response to a social security question. "How will you fix social security?" or something to that effect. His response was SO wishy washy. Something like, "We know how to fix social security. We always have." He then avoided the question completely and did not answer. When Obama called out McCain in regard to taxing health care and the fact that our $5000 health care crredit would go to insurance companies, NOT us, all McCain could do was sputter "Do the math." over and over. Oh, and if he said, "My friends" one more time, I was going to reach into my TV and choke him. (if the Secret Service read this, I would NOT do that to Mr McCain. It is only an expression.

OSU vs Perdue - I get to go to the OSU game tomorrow. Whoopie!! It is a 3:30 game so I get to sleep in a bit. I love going to OSU games. After the close one last week at Wisconsin, I am looking forward to Ohio State rolling up some big numbers against the Boilermakers. Plus, it is always a treat to see the Marching Band and relive old memories. GO BUCKS!!

A fun weekend

I had myself a pretty nice weekend. Friday started out playing poker. I didn't win anything, but I always have fun playing cards. Actually, it was a frustrating night of cards. There were a lot of hack players there. There's really no way to win against hack players when they get lucky. For example, I flop two pair (AA 7 7) bet big, get called, and the caller hits a better two pair on the turn (AA 10 10). I played it right, had the best hand going in, and got out drawn. Oh well.

Saturday, Jessica's grandpa, his lady friend, Jessica's aunt, uncle, cousin, dad, and dad's special friend were all over for dinner. I grilled some brats, burgers, and hot dogs. I had to drink alot during the OSU Wisconsin game. It was a great game to watch, but stressful. I guess football is a little boring when your team blows someone out, but it is much more relaxing when the game is in the bag. OSU went up first on a stellar run by Beanie wells. Re was on fire Saturday. The game went back and forth, requiring a last minute drive by OSU to pull out the win. It was exciting.

Sunday, we went to campus to watch Jessica's cousin play in a softball tournament. She is Ohio State's center fielder. OSU played three games, but Jessica and I took Gabe and Ally home after the first game. It was actually fun to watch. Brittany (Jessica's cousin) struck out a few times, adanced a runner that would score on a ground out, and then hit a double. Probably the most entertaining part of the game was all of the cheers. When a batter was up, the rest of the team would do a cheer for her. Each cheer was specific for each player. Also, they would razz the other team. If the pitcher threw a walk, the team would do a cheer about throwing balls. It was a hoot. OSU won the game we watched, but I am not sure about the other games.

After the game we watched, we actually too the kids to a nearby farm for a hay ride. We rode on a wagon pulled by a tractor, get to go through a cord field maze ( I kept calling it the maize maze), then we picked out pumpkins. There was also a pony ride that Ally LOVED, weak petting zoo (two cows and two rabbits), and a few inflatable things for the kids to bounce on. It was fun.

Good Night of Bowling

Thursday is bowling night again. Thursdays are great. Anyway, I was on my game pretty well and bowled my first 600 series of the season. 200, 235, and 170. I was a little miffed about the 170, but will take a 600 series any week. I primarily use two balls, a Raging Inferno and a Zone, both Brunswick. On oily lanes, I tend to use my Zone. It seems to break harder on oily lanes. Anyway, I used my Zone last night and it was hammering the pocket. FUN. I still missed a few easy spares, which drives me crazy, but all in all I am please with bowling so far. I am right around a 180-190 average. My team is doing well too. After three weeks we are undefeated and on top of our league. Is it a 26 week league though, so there is still a long way to go. I still might get a new ball this year, but so far my Inferno/Zone duo are doing pretty good.

Circling the Drain

I rarely talk politics. I rarely follow politics. Honestly, I don't understand enough of it and I get too bored by politics to really try to learn, but lately things have been happening that are scaring me a bit. To be honest, I fear that our country is going into the crapper big time. There is the money black hole that is the wars in Iraq and Afganistan, the soaring oil costs making it hard to travel, and now the proposed government buy outs of the banks ond mortgage companies that are in trouble. All in all, 'little guys' in this country, like me, could be looking at some financial issues in teh future. As it is, I have a hard enough time paying all the bills and having enough left over for any 'me' things (movies, bowling, poker, etc.) Now, I don't really know as much as I should to judge the government, but it seems to me like the current administration and the Republicans are in large part at fault. If all of the Democratic commercials stating that this Republican and that one give tax breaks to rich folk (who can afford taxes) and have allowed gas companies and the medical fields to over charge us middle class Americans all these years, I say it is time for a change. When Clinton was president, I broke my arm and paid no money for hospital bills. Noah broke his arm this year (under Bush's reign of terror) and I had to pay over $2000. Oil companies are allowed to break records with their earnings while I am forced to put a quarter of a tank of gas in because I can't afford a fill up. Billions of our tax dollars are going to Iraq, where they have billions of dollars in oil reserves. Seems to me that we should have stuck some kind of deal where they give us some oil for all of the help we are giving them.

I went to my aunt & uncle's house a while back and we saw a political commercial. My dad was there and said he didn't think much of McCain's choice in running mate and my uncle said Obama scared the hell out of him. I have no idea why, seeing as how he has been the only candidate that has said what he is going to do to help America. McCain's adds are all about bashing Obama. I think that my uncle is worried about all of the governemental regulations that Obama would put into place to help regulate big companies and keep them from screwing us poor folk. Well, isn't this govenement buy out of these banks the same thing? the government is trying to get up to pay for the banking blunders of these monster companies. At least Dubya is. Maybe the economy will fall apart, but I feel that these companies and their shadey practices caused this problem. If I lost all my money, would the government writeme a fat check to pay for all of my needs?

I really hope that the rest of America is tired of the Republican shenanigans and vote Obama. I don't see that McCain is going to help us middle class people. Wee need someone that is actually going to change things for the better.

A Few Things

Last night Jessica and I went with our friends, Barb and Brian, to the Movie Tavern to see Tropic Thunder. It has Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr in the main roles, with Tom Cruise and Matthew McConnahay in bit parts. Basically, it is about a group of actors that are kind of has beens and primadonnas shooting a war movie that is about to be shut down. The director gets the idea to put cameras in the deep jungle and maroon the actors in the middle of nowhere to try to get them in the moment. Hilarity insues. It was kinda dumb in some parts, kinda silly in others, and down right hilarious in other parts. It has some fowl language and adult comedy, so it is not a kid movie. Pretty good though.

Ohio State looked good Saturday. They beat Minnesota. Beanie Wells was back and looked good and Terrelle Pryor looked like he is getting comfortable in the starting QB roll. The defense held Minnesota pretty much all game. The Gophers scored twice in the fourth quarter making it seem like the game was close, but the defense was rotating its starters out. It was a fun game to watch.

The Browns won their furst game today. woo-hoo! They beat the Bengals in a battle of the bad. I mean a battle for Ohio. this was not a good game to watch. Yes, the Browns won, which pleased me, but they looked terrible half the game. The Bengals looked terrible the whole game, so it worked out.

Oh Golly. We must REALLY suck

I haven't talked about it, because it makes me a little pissed, but after Ohio State got their asses kicked by USC, I thought to myself, "Wow. Either those guys are REALLY good, or OSU is really not good this season." It was total domination by USC over Ohio State. The dreams of the returning 18 starters dashed in one night. I was able to get over it, eventually, and started looking towards the Big Ten Season. Maybe Ohio State could salvage their season with a trip to the Rose Bowl. Now that the offense seems to be working a little better, maybe OSU is still top of the Big Ten. Maybe. Let's face it though, Ohio State's wins were hard fought and against opponents that they should have dominated. Now, last night happened.

Last night I watched the USC Oregon State game. You remember, USC that kicked OSU asses by 32 points. Well, they lost to Oregon State 27-21. You remember, Oregon State that lost to Penn State 45-7. Guess what, OSU and Penn State meet later this year. If the numbers say anything, OSU should lose to PSU by about 72. This is what I want to know. Did OSU play their worst game and USC their best game and then USC play their worst game and Oregon State their best game? I can only hope that is the case. I think the Buckeyes are on the rise. My only fear is that they win out, got to the Rose Bowl, only to meet USC again for another ass kicking.