Still got my mind on sports. The Nnamdi Asomugha singing by the Eagles got me thinking a lot about what looks good on paper and what works in reality.
Of course, the whole LeBron "I'm bringing my talents to South Beach" thing from last year is still looming in the minds of all sports fans. The ripple effect has been huge. It seems like every owner or general manager of every team in every sport thinks he'll be able to sign a bunch of great players for cheaper because they'll all want to play together to win rings.
I suppose in basketball, they're right. Just look at everything New York did last year. They went from nothing to a team with at least two pretty big names and the salary cap space (assuming it doesn't change drastically under whatever new CBA gets done) to sign at least a third. The Heat with their big three went to the NBA finals a year after getting demolished in the first round of the post-season. To everyone that said the "experiment" was a failure, I say grow up. They'll be right back in it next year and you better believe LeBron is gonna dig deep and fix his shaky 4th quarter confidence.
Back to football: There was talks Asomugha was going to the Jets. That would have meant the two best corners in the league would have shared the backfield, which I imagine would have made the already formidable Jets the favorites to win the AFC. It didn't happen (thankfully, as I would not want my Steelers to run into a Jets team with that backfield) but now he's with the Eagles with the very talented Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The Eagles are looking absolutely loaded this year. That's a super dangerous backfield, and if they resign DeSean Jackson with a contract the kid deserves (he's absolutely beast-mode), it's looking like an offense as potent as you can get.
I don't know how I feel about this. Obviously it's a win for the general manager of Philly. Fans of the Eagles are probably rejoicing as they well should. This doesn't equal the LeBron thing by any measure, but it's in the discussion because it's loading a lot of talent in a place where they wouldn't make as much as they probably deserve.
I suppose this is another reason I love football, though. You can't just sign 3 super guys and suddenly go from a barely viable team to reaching the finals. It takes so many pieces, and a team can go from terrible to awesome in just a few years. I think the Lions are proof of that. Literally the only team to go 0-fer in a season (I don't count the first year Tampa Bay Buccs as they were an expansion team in a weird era of football), some people have them as favorites to win that division this year. I do. As crazy as it sounds, I think they're gonna be +.500 for the first time since I can't even remember.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?
I've wanted to do a post a day for this site, and already fell short of that the second week having it. Sad!
Thankfully, it's because of how busy I've been mentally prepping to move, getting ready for a new semester at school, being an e-flirt, lots and lots of Warhammer 40k, and following coverage of football's lockout ending.
I've been salivating. It's so delicious. Watching this quarterback carousel, all the free agent talk, imaging how crazy this season will be for the team fielding lots of rookies and rookie head coaches... God bless the NFL. Honestly, it's the best televised sport ever.
Football wins the sports battle for some very key reasons. Let me give you why I think it succeeds over other sports.
5: It's a real team game.
This is where basketball falls short. It's a game dominated by individuals rather than team fundamentals, although I suppose the latest NBA champions might argue that one. Still, look at the greatest teams in the history of the game. The casual fan can't remember more than maybe three names off any given roster in champions past, and with teams currently.
4: Danger
There is the risk of injury in all sports, but none so prevalent as football. Guys run as hard as they can and knock the stuffing out of each other. It's brutal and unforgiving. The average career of NFL players is significantly lower than in the other major sports, so we're more ready to accept greatness however fleeting it might be.
3: Watchable
When the action is happening, it's hard not to stay glued to the screen. Granted, the fact a play happens once every 40 seconds as all and is often and anticlimactic dropped pass or short yard run can be a little slow but overall, there's just action and explosive moments the other sports lack. Baseball, you have diving catches and the longball. Great when it happens, but the build up to it is not quite so exciting. Hockey, you've got guys checked into glass doors, the occasional fight, and goals often times missed by the naked eye. I think the fact the athleticism of hockey is lost to a large majority of people (I know how to run and catch a ball, however slowly and clumsily I do it, but I can't skate on ice) is a major hinderance for the sport's popularity. Basketball probably has the most action of any sport and requires the most sheer athleticism of it's atheletes, but because it's so constant, there isn't as much build up to the big amazing exciting over-the-top crazy play as football has. It's the right combination of excitement and lulls in the action to make excellent television.
2: Strategy
Watching the battle plans of a headcoach as he chalks up the X's and O's of how he envisions a play to progress is simply incredible. It's wartime tactics, except with human battering rams instead of catapults and crossbows. There is definintely strategy in the other major sports, but it's less "Okay, we're gonna do this. Damn, didn't work. Well, let's run the same thing again but alter this here and oh man we just got a giant play! Woo!" Baseball's strategy is all about the pitcher/batter duel. Great stuff, but it's individual, more tennis-like than grand scheme. The strategy in hockey and soccer and basketball, as all three of those sports is pass the ball/puck around until there's an opening or simply be more athletic than the other guy as you put it in the scoring receptacle. It's great to watch, and I appreciate the sheer talent of the guys that do it.
But it's not a mind-game. It's not a thinking man's spectator game. The fact it appeals on a cerebral level as well as the kind of thing you can enjoy while drunk and disorderly is awesome. That generates more mass appeal than a 7 hour baseball game that ends in a score of 4-3.
1: Less is More
Simply put, football is the most fun of the other sports to watch on TV, and we only have to do it once a week for 4 hours a time. The rest of the week, you get to soak in the highlights and salivate over the next match up. Every game has such high stakes the emotional investment, the highs and the lows, is that much greater. Your team loses a baseball game? No biggie; 160 to go. I remember the Red Sox started out abysmal this year and people were freaking out because they didn't play well the first two weeks and now they're stomping people and crushing fools. A team starts 0-4 in football, it's nearly impossible to recover. The other sport seasons feel so long, and it's impossible to care about every single team. The fact I've got an entire week of football highlights to soak in means I can feel connected to every single team, every single game, every single player in a way the others can't offer.
Here's to hoping for a great season. Let's go Steelers!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The importance of being earnest
If only I was talking about the Oscar Wilde play. That'd make for a much more silly post.
But no. This is about one of my unshakable principles. Dictionary.com's second definition is the one I want to focus on. "Showing depth and sincerity of feeling."
Being sincere is lost in our society. It's funny a guy who considers himself to have a very sarcastic, dry sense of humor is all about being sincere as much as possible, but it's true. There's nothing worse than trying to get a group of people over for a party and having hugely positive okays, emphatic most definitelys and undoubted for sures from others just to have them all bail when the event comes around.
Is it that hard to just mean what you say? I know it's difficult to be self assured to the point one can stand behind his or her words because failing to meet your own expectations sucks. No one wants to be a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is universally hated. The fastest way to get on people's bad sides is to have the appearance of being a hypocrite.
I suppose I would encourage those who feel someone is a hypocrite to give that person a chance. Everyone makes mistakes, even those with conviction and power behind their words.
The event in my life making me think about this topic is pretty messed up. Long story short, I'm in love with a girl who's married to a guy that completely changed after they got married. It seems to me there's a complete lack of functional communication between the two of them, and it drives me nuts. There was a specific situation that happened yesterday that caused a lightbulb to shatter. Not just turn on, but overheat and just burst with a "!" moment.
You just have to say what you mean, and mean what you say. Nothing is worth being unsaid forever. I'm not saying don't exercise tact, but if something is burning a hole in you, it's not worth worrying about the reactions of other people. People always show their true colors when you don't allow them to play games with you.
Sorry this post was pretty serious. I'm simply at my wit's end with a situation. The outcome is massively important to my happiness and I have absolutely no control over it. I suppose these are the type of occurances which cause the best times to think, though, and discover what really matters to one's self.
But no. This is about one of my unshakable principles. Dictionary.com's second definition is the one I want to focus on. "Showing depth and sincerity of feeling."
Being sincere is lost in our society. It's funny a guy who considers himself to have a very sarcastic, dry sense of humor is all about being sincere as much as possible, but it's true. There's nothing worse than trying to get a group of people over for a party and having hugely positive okays, emphatic most definitelys and undoubted for sures from others just to have them all bail when the event comes around.
Is it that hard to just mean what you say? I know it's difficult to be self assured to the point one can stand behind his or her words because failing to meet your own expectations sucks. No one wants to be a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is universally hated. The fastest way to get on people's bad sides is to have the appearance of being a hypocrite.
I suppose I would encourage those who feel someone is a hypocrite to give that person a chance. Everyone makes mistakes, even those with conviction and power behind their words.
The event in my life making me think about this topic is pretty messed up. Long story short, I'm in love with a girl who's married to a guy that completely changed after they got married. It seems to me there's a complete lack of functional communication between the two of them, and it drives me nuts. There was a specific situation that happened yesterday that caused a lightbulb to shatter. Not just turn on, but overheat and just burst with a "!" moment.
You just have to say what you mean, and mean what you say. Nothing is worth being unsaid forever. I'm not saying don't exercise tact, but if something is burning a hole in you, it's not worth worrying about the reactions of other people. People always show their true colors when you don't allow them to play games with you.
Sorry this post was pretty serious. I'm simply at my wit's end with a situation. The outcome is massively important to my happiness and I have absolutely no control over it. I suppose these are the type of occurances which cause the best times to think, though, and discover what really matters to one's self.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Horror Movies make too much money for how much they suck.
When I say "they," I really do mean the entirety of the genre.
It blows my mind people pay money to go see a movie they know they're going to regret seeing. When is the last time you had a friend go to a horror movie and gave it a glowing review?
All I ever hear is about how not scary it was, about how bad the acting is, and about how predictable the plot and deaths and gore are. The worst part is whenever there was a genuinely original one, inevitably seven quintillion bajillicuttion sequels get released, each exponentially worse than the last.
This rant was brought on by a friend updating her status on Facebook with how crappy she thought Insidious was. Well no duh. First of all, I hadn't even heard of it and I watch absurd amounts of television. When there's THAT much of a lack of advertising, especially from a movie directed by a guy who directed a film lauded by folks as being the savior of the genre (SAW, for the record), it makes you wonder. Secondly,
IT'S A HORROR FILM.
The entire premise is: Go to movie, see freaky things, get spooked, squeeze your significant other. How is this achieved? Excitement through near sex scene, over-the-top gorey deaths, and atrocious acting. It's formulaic, something quite hilariously ironic in a genre that should be all about finding new and exciting ways of messing with your head.
As a concept, horror films cannot achieve what they want. What horror movie makers ought to do is try and make a movie that on the surface looks like another type of movie. A rom-com, an action thriller, whatever. Then, when the audience gets sucked in, do some really messed up crapola and watch people's stomachs turn over. Remember how you felt at the end of The Departed? I'm talking that level of "Oh god I can't believe that, what a bummer." That's true horror. That's the kind of stuff that's genuinely scary. It's not the type of thing that makes you jump and gets your heart racing: It's the kind of thing that never leaves you and keeps you up at night for a few days.
It blows my mind people pay money to go see a movie they know they're going to regret seeing. When is the last time you had a friend go to a horror movie and gave it a glowing review?
All I ever hear is about how not scary it was, about how bad the acting is, and about how predictable the plot and deaths and gore are. The worst part is whenever there was a genuinely original one, inevitably seven quintillion bajillicuttion sequels get released, each exponentially worse than the last.
This rant was brought on by a friend updating her status on Facebook with how crappy she thought Insidious was. Well no duh. First of all, I hadn't even heard of it and I watch absurd amounts of television. When there's THAT much of a lack of advertising, especially from a movie directed by a guy who directed a film lauded by folks as being the savior of the genre (SAW, for the record), it makes you wonder. Secondly,
IT'S A HORROR FILM.
The entire premise is: Go to movie, see freaky things, get spooked, squeeze your significant other. How is this achieved? Excitement through near sex scene, over-the-top gorey deaths, and atrocious acting. It's formulaic, something quite hilariously ironic in a genre that should be all about finding new and exciting ways of messing with your head.
As a concept, horror films cannot achieve what they want. What horror movie makers ought to do is try and make a movie that on the surface looks like another type of movie. A rom-com, an action thriller, whatever. Then, when the audience gets sucked in, do some really messed up crapola and watch people's stomachs turn over. Remember how you felt at the end of The Departed? I'm talking that level of "Oh god I can't believe that, what a bummer." That's true horror. That's the kind of stuff that's genuinely scary. It's not the type of thing that makes you jump and gets your heart racing: It's the kind of thing that never leaves you and keeps you up at night for a few days.
Professional Guide to Disliking Someone
There is this one guy I know, fellow that was in a bunch of my classes last semester and hung around the same circle of friends I tried to ingratiate myself into. Speaking about this kid to a fellow classmate over Facebook the other day, we've agreed to call him Pontificus Maximus for the purposes of protecting the identity of this particular scumbag.
The reason I don't like this guy is how similar he is to me. I know that's an odd reason to hate someone, but when another person shares a lot of your personality quirks without any of the same moral views, it's hard to simply accept him as just another human being. It's almost like I consider him a rival. Not in a classic "I'm gonna beat him at this one thing!" type of way, but if he makes it more successful in life than I do (which I highly suspect), I'll be disappointed with the rest of the world.
The brass tacks of why I dislike this guy is how manipulative he is. That's not the kind of claim one can make without proof so I'm going to share with you the story of when this guy went from being someone I considered a friend to when I started having doubts about him as a human being.
Me and some other friends from the Dixie Sun news staff went to go see a film down at the one theater seems like everyone enjoys best. (And for all the Dixie Sun staffers, yes, I know that former sentence was grammatically incorrect so you can bugger off now. I'm telling a story; shut your hole.) I honestly can't recall what movie it was, just that three people I knew were there and one girl I'd never met. Movie was over, we all meet up in the lobby and as I'm leaving, I overhear people talking logistics of getting home. Me being the kindly hearted helpful soul that I am figures I would find out where everyone was headed because if it was near my place, I could give a lift. Sure enough, this girl wasn't too far from my apartment so I offered her a lift if she needed it. She accepted, and everyone else walked off.
Almost immediately, I got some cryptic text from Ponty stating, and I quote, "I am going to kill you tomorrow." I scratched my head a few times, then hollered at him asking for an explanation. He was red in the face with anger and made up some bullshit story about some project someone had due tomorrow I was supposed to help on. I honestly couldn't figure out what the hell he was on about.
I drive this girl home and check my messages. He sent another one giving me some bullshit about how "When someone talks to you in some medium, you should respond in that medium." Obviously, those of you who have a personal relationship with me know I think this is utter crap. Talking is talking is talking and if you're going to send cryptic messages, expect someone as straightforward as I am to call you out on it. We got into a heated text debate and the short of it is he was mad at me for cockblocking. I was appalled on so many levels.
This guy, who says all the time about how wonderful and smart and straightforward and verbose he is, couldn't tell me in the theater when I offered her a ride home he was going to ask this girl out for drinks? There's nothing socially awkward about saying "Well, my friend and I were going to grab a few drinks and we'd like you to come with us" immediately after I asked if she wanted a ride back to her place. I don't see how that's awkward in the slightest, but Pontificus was quite adamant I put him in a spot. Also, it's not like I had any idea he was interested in her because he was in a relationship with a girl at the time. One, I might add, I think would be a catch. His now ex-girlfriend lacked a sense of humor, but was otherwise sweet and endearing and pretty.
He came up with more bologna sandwich about how EEEEVERYone knew he'd been trying to break up with her for months. That's an eyeroll, especially because according to him, every time he tried to break up with her ended in sex. Gee, man. You're trying really hard to let HER down easy. Obviously there's nothing in this for you at all, you manipulative lying piece of sh-- sorry. Got carried away there.
So that was the beginning of it for me. I started paying more attention to his mannerisms, his excuses, the way he treated people. I honestly think he's a sociopath. He doesn't display the antisocial side of the definition, but he clearly lacks a sense of moral responsibility and social conscience. I guarantee he'd argue with it, too, because I recall him talking about social responsibilities all the time. Super hard to take him serious, as convicted as he came across, because he also talked at great length how much he was into Game Theory. To take an except from the introductory paragraph out of Wikipedia's entry on Game Theory: "game theory models strategic situations, or games, in which an individual's success in making choices depends on the choices of others."
Which... doesn't sound quite so sinister now that I've bothered to look it up. Man I feel like a doof. I'm going to go ahead and leave my mistake in here because I'm a man and can own up to it.
The perception I had was how he treats everyone as if they were part of a game. I figured it tied into that somehow but it doesn't. Still, this IS how this guy operates. He shmoozes and pretends to be friends with people he can't stand. I should know, because even after it was clear to me how much he didn't like me, if he thought he could get something out of me he'd try to get it. Saw him do it with others, too. The Dixie Sun staff is in for a real treat letting him onto the actual scholarshipped staff for next semester. I don't understand how the new editor in chief thought this kid wasn't just trying to weasel into a cheaper semester and to try and usurp power considering how much he disdains the rest of the editors.
I'll hand it to Ponty: He's better at manipulation than I'll ever be which is how to get ahead in the news industry. The best thing I got out of last semester failing so hard is I know what I *don't* want to do and that's be anything like what I was being molded into. I hate news organizations with a passion now. All of them. They are all corrupt and they all lie, and they all pat themselves on the back for it because they're blind to it. They are blind to their own corruption. The only time a story isn't slanted or straight misinformed is when it's about something totally irrelevant, like the fluffy new panda at the zoo story that ends every broadcast.
I have made it a goal to be nothing like this guy, and I hope others will stand up to his superficial charm and let him know how much of an epic waste of organic tissue he is. I think people as a whole need to have shorter leashes with their friends, but still be willing to give second chances. It has to be known it's a second chance, though. Can't just continue to let a friend do something that bothers you, and just smile and say "That's okay." Because it's not okay, and if you don't stand up for yourself and what you believe in, you will be crushed under the weight of someone who will stand up against you.
And sometimes, that person might not even realize they're walking on you. The feeling I dread more than any other is abusing someone and making them feel bad without even realizing it. That's why I wish others were as convicted in what they believe as I am in what I believe. I can respect someone, even if they are as much of a tool as Pontificus Maximus, if they have the balls to let me know I'm stepping over boundaries.
The reason I don't like this guy is how similar he is to me. I know that's an odd reason to hate someone, but when another person shares a lot of your personality quirks without any of the same moral views, it's hard to simply accept him as just another human being. It's almost like I consider him a rival. Not in a classic "I'm gonna beat him at this one thing!" type of way, but if he makes it more successful in life than I do (which I highly suspect), I'll be disappointed with the rest of the world.
The brass tacks of why I dislike this guy is how manipulative he is. That's not the kind of claim one can make without proof so I'm going to share with you the story of when this guy went from being someone I considered a friend to when I started having doubts about him as a human being.
Me and some other friends from the Dixie Sun news staff went to go see a film down at the one theater seems like everyone enjoys best. (And for all the Dixie Sun staffers, yes, I know that former sentence was grammatically incorrect so you can bugger off now. I'm telling a story; shut your hole.) I honestly can't recall what movie it was, just that three people I knew were there and one girl I'd never met. Movie was over, we all meet up in the lobby and as I'm leaving, I overhear people talking logistics of getting home. Me being the kindly hearted helpful soul that I am figures I would find out where everyone was headed because if it was near my place, I could give a lift. Sure enough, this girl wasn't too far from my apartment so I offered her a lift if she needed it. She accepted, and everyone else walked off.
Almost immediately, I got some cryptic text from Ponty stating, and I quote, "I am going to kill you tomorrow." I scratched my head a few times, then hollered at him asking for an explanation. He was red in the face with anger and made up some bullshit story about some project someone had due tomorrow I was supposed to help on. I honestly couldn't figure out what the hell he was on about.
I drive this girl home and check my messages. He sent another one giving me some bullshit about how "When someone talks to you in some medium, you should respond in that medium." Obviously, those of you who have a personal relationship with me know I think this is utter crap. Talking is talking is talking and if you're going to send cryptic messages, expect someone as straightforward as I am to call you out on it. We got into a heated text debate and the short of it is he was mad at me for cockblocking. I was appalled on so many levels.
This guy, who says all the time about how wonderful and smart and straightforward and verbose he is, couldn't tell me in the theater when I offered her a ride home he was going to ask this girl out for drinks? There's nothing socially awkward about saying "Well, my friend and I were going to grab a few drinks and we'd like you to come with us" immediately after I asked if she wanted a ride back to her place. I don't see how that's awkward in the slightest, but Pontificus was quite adamant I put him in a spot. Also, it's not like I had any idea he was interested in her because he was in a relationship with a girl at the time. One, I might add, I think would be a catch. His now ex-girlfriend lacked a sense of humor, but was otherwise sweet and endearing and pretty.
He came up with more bologna sandwich about how EEEEVERYone knew he'd been trying to break up with her for months. That's an eyeroll, especially because according to him, every time he tried to break up with her ended in sex. Gee, man. You're trying really hard to let HER down easy. Obviously there's nothing in this for you at all, you manipulative lying piece of sh-- sorry. Got carried away there.
So that was the beginning of it for me. I started paying more attention to his mannerisms, his excuses, the way he treated people. I honestly think he's a sociopath. He doesn't display the antisocial side of the definition, but he clearly lacks a sense of moral responsibility and social conscience. I guarantee he'd argue with it, too, because I recall him talking about social responsibilities all the time. Super hard to take him serious, as convicted as he came across, because he also talked at great length how much he was into Game Theory. To take an except from the introductory paragraph out of Wikipedia's entry on Game Theory: "game theory models strategic situations, or games, in which an individual's success in making choices depends on the choices of others."
Which... doesn't sound quite so sinister now that I've bothered to look it up. Man I feel like a doof. I'm going to go ahead and leave my mistake in here because I'm a man and can own up to it.
The perception I had was how he treats everyone as if they were part of a game. I figured it tied into that somehow but it doesn't. Still, this IS how this guy operates. He shmoozes and pretends to be friends with people he can't stand. I should know, because even after it was clear to me how much he didn't like me, if he thought he could get something out of me he'd try to get it. Saw him do it with others, too. The Dixie Sun staff is in for a real treat letting him onto the actual scholarshipped staff for next semester. I don't understand how the new editor in chief thought this kid wasn't just trying to weasel into a cheaper semester and to try and usurp power considering how much he disdains the rest of the editors.
I'll hand it to Ponty: He's better at manipulation than I'll ever be which is how to get ahead in the news industry. The best thing I got out of last semester failing so hard is I know what I *don't* want to do and that's be anything like what I was being molded into. I hate news organizations with a passion now. All of them. They are all corrupt and they all lie, and they all pat themselves on the back for it because they're blind to it. They are blind to their own corruption. The only time a story isn't slanted or straight misinformed is when it's about something totally irrelevant, like the fluffy new panda at the zoo story that ends every broadcast.
I have made it a goal to be nothing like this guy, and I hope others will stand up to his superficial charm and let him know how much of an epic waste of organic tissue he is. I think people as a whole need to have shorter leashes with their friends, but still be willing to give second chances. It has to be known it's a second chance, though. Can't just continue to let a friend do something that bothers you, and just smile and say "That's okay." Because it's not okay, and if you don't stand up for yourself and what you believe in, you will be crushed under the weight of someone who will stand up against you.
And sometimes, that person might not even realize they're walking on you. The feeling I dread more than any other is abusing someone and making them feel bad without even realizing it. That's why I wish others were as convicted in what they believe as I am in what I believe. I can respect someone, even if they are as much of a tool as Pontificus Maximus, if they have the balls to let me know I'm stepping over boundaries.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Captain America and why going to the movies alone sucks
There's nothing worse than enjoying a movie and not having anyone to talk to about it, especially if you've been really excited about it enough to go see it opening night.
I'm sure I'll have plenty of people to talk to about Captain America: The First Avenger tomorrow, but that doesn't satisfy my 3 AM need for chit-chat! Totally unfair all my friends are too busy to come with me to midnight releases.
The movie was fun. I enjoyed it more than Thor, which I also enjoyed. It's up there on my short list of good things about theaters in summer of 2011. The movie flowed pretty well and I was never bored. Plus, I'm a fan of Lucas Lee- I mean Chris Evans. Kind of strange he's two characters in the Marvel Universe now but I suppose they've officially killed off the Fantastic 4 as the second one was box office tragedy. I guess I suck at film reviews because I like to keep it simple: Enjoyable plot, fun action sequences, none of the acting detracted from the atmosphere the movie was aiming to create, good cinematography, etc. Nothing really leapt out and wowed me but it was a fun summer flick I think anyone could chomp popcorn to without feeling robbed. At the end of the day, that's all anyone can ask for.
The funniest thing is everyone was most excited about The Avengers trailer that follows the film's credits. I have no idea what the Avengers is even really going to be about but any movie with Robert Downey Jr. as a chauvinistic drunk with super powers will get me into theaters.
Back to my original point, though, it really sucks to feel so alone when you know the things you're interested in are popular and people frequently comment to you that you're a nice guy and likable and whatnot. I suppose it's a case of actions speak louder than words. I might not be the most charismatic person in the world but if I plan an event others are interested in, it shouldn't strike out for years running. Right? I mean, people like movies. Friends I've spoken to were excited about Captain America. No one took the bite, though. At this point, friends being responsible and having jobs is no consolation to me. It used to take the edge off my feelings of loneliness because logically, it's a no-brainer. No one is going to stay up til 3 when they have work at 8.
A handful of friends in St. George I know went to see it tonight, but part of me feels like I'd have been excluded from their camps if I was up there. I know that's just paranoia talking, but I feel it really strongly. I'm kind of looking forward to moving back up for school, and part of me is seriously terrified. On paper, this semester should be awesome and significantly better than last. But I know how badly I failed with the social situation over this last year. None of the friendships except for the one I made with my roommate lasted from my first semester up there, and I feel like the majority of ones still intact from the lastest one are hanging by a thread (that I might simply be imagining because I have such a hard time letting go.)
I want to set up some weekly board game night. It could morph into movies any given time, or really anything. I don't care. I just want an excuse to get people together, and I'm part of why that group is together. I felt like a third wheel, unwanted and only tolerated as a social exercise on the parts of the others there, at all the potlucks I attended with the news staff from Dixie. Can't prove it, but I've sent out a lot of feelers and rarely got any feedback. I did get the feeling if I skipped any of the luncheons, no one would have asked "Hey where's Casey?"
I'm rambling again about personal crapola none of you all care about (at least just yet!) so I'm gonna call it a night and go kill some Xeno scum as a tyranid Hive Tyrant. Mad epic geek props to anyone who knows what I'm referring to.
I'm sure I'll have plenty of people to talk to about Captain America: The First Avenger tomorrow, but that doesn't satisfy my 3 AM need for chit-chat! Totally unfair all my friends are too busy to come with me to midnight releases.
The movie was fun. I enjoyed it more than Thor, which I also enjoyed. It's up there on my short list of good things about theaters in summer of 2011. The movie flowed pretty well and I was never bored. Plus, I'm a fan of Lucas Lee- I mean Chris Evans. Kind of strange he's two characters in the Marvel Universe now but I suppose they've officially killed off the Fantastic 4 as the second one was box office tragedy. I guess I suck at film reviews because I like to keep it simple: Enjoyable plot, fun action sequences, none of the acting detracted from the atmosphere the movie was aiming to create, good cinematography, etc. Nothing really leapt out and wowed me but it was a fun summer flick I think anyone could chomp popcorn to without feeling robbed. At the end of the day, that's all anyone can ask for.
The funniest thing is everyone was most excited about The Avengers trailer that follows the film's credits. I have no idea what the Avengers is even really going to be about but any movie with Robert Downey Jr. as a chauvinistic drunk with super powers will get me into theaters.
Back to my original point, though, it really sucks to feel so alone when you know the things you're interested in are popular and people frequently comment to you that you're a nice guy and likable and whatnot. I suppose it's a case of actions speak louder than words. I might not be the most charismatic person in the world but if I plan an event others are interested in, it shouldn't strike out for years running. Right? I mean, people like movies. Friends I've spoken to were excited about Captain America. No one took the bite, though. At this point, friends being responsible and having jobs is no consolation to me. It used to take the edge off my feelings of loneliness because logically, it's a no-brainer. No one is going to stay up til 3 when they have work at 8.
A handful of friends in St. George I know went to see it tonight, but part of me feels like I'd have been excluded from their camps if I was up there. I know that's just paranoia talking, but I feel it really strongly. I'm kind of looking forward to moving back up for school, and part of me is seriously terrified. On paper, this semester should be awesome and significantly better than last. But I know how badly I failed with the social situation over this last year. None of the friendships except for the one I made with my roommate lasted from my first semester up there, and I feel like the majority of ones still intact from the lastest one are hanging by a thread (that I might simply be imagining because I have such a hard time letting go.)
I want to set up some weekly board game night. It could morph into movies any given time, or really anything. I don't care. I just want an excuse to get people together, and I'm part of why that group is together. I felt like a third wheel, unwanted and only tolerated as a social exercise on the parts of the others there, at all the potlucks I attended with the news staff from Dixie. Can't prove it, but I've sent out a lot of feelers and rarely got any feedback. I did get the feeling if I skipped any of the luncheons, no one would have asked "Hey where's Casey?"
I'm rambling again about personal crapola none of you all care about (at least just yet!) so I'm gonna call it a night and go kill some Xeno scum as a tyranid Hive Tyrant. Mad epic geek props to anyone who knows what I'm referring to.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The reason Niche games are always the best
As I've mentioned, I am an avid gamer. I tend to fall in love with the really odd, quirky games no one else either knows about. I'm the type of guy that jumps on a bandwagon, at least in the gaming world, to help get the hype out about how awesome some indie title is.
No greater example of this in my life than Disgaea. I first heard it described, in this little teeny blurb in an Electronic Gaming Monthly which I used to subscribe to, as "Tim Burton-esque characters meet Final Fantasy Tactics." Seeing as FFT is one of my all time favorites ever, I checked it out and ended up making it a first day purchase after reading up as much as I could. Absolutely loved the title because the developers made a solid game with a lovable story with fantastic characters. It wasn't a focus-group tested product designed to sell the most copies; it was simply a passion of some nerdy doods that love that style of gameplay. Luckily it caught on and a 4th installment is due to come out on the Playstation 3 later. Big title? Not in the least. Is it going to be awesome? I guarantee it.
The communities that pop up around every game always surprise me. Another reason I love Indie titles is they usually have the most supportive, loyal, caring fans in the world. It's not a bunch of spoon-fed whiney brats who feel all games need to cater to their specific every need. They tend to draw a more explorative bunch. I think the best example of this is the dichotomy of Guitar Hero's fanbase as opposed to Rock Band. The first two Guitar Heroes were excellent and developed by Harmonix, a really small company at the time driven by a motto of For Musicians by Musicians. They, meaning Harmonix's core staffers and programmers, were musicians first and gamers second. They decided after the success of the series, they wanted to design a game encapsulating all elements of music in terms of instruments rather than simply focus on the guitar. So Activision, being the greedy evil bastards they are, kicked Harmonix off their roster of developers, gave the Guitar Hero franchise to some hacks, and attempted to cash in on someone else's well-thought-out hard work without considering WHY the title was successful. Rock Band drew a more niche crowd at the time due to the steep price of entry while Guitar Hero exploded, initially, as the new hot trending thing.
Harmonix always kept thinking how to make their product what they wanted, while Guitar Hero started catering to all those clamoring the games weren't difficult enough and needed more challenging songs. Eventually the franchise saw a ton of super difficult songs that were near unlistenable to the majority of audiences. (Sorry, hardcore metal fans, but singers actually emitting real words is inherently better than inane grumble-screams.) It became difficult to the point many gamers were turned off, and Activision never figured out the problem. They decided to release edition after edition of the game with no real differences, while Harmonix only has 3 core titles (RB: Beatles can be considered a 4th as it's music is only in it's own game) and each markedly improved from the last,with all the off-shoots having the ability for their songs to be imported into the core titles so it's more like expansions than "full new titles." The original rock band brought multiple tracks to each song (not just guitar, now, but bass, drums, and vocals. As my brother Colin put it, it's Karaoke on crack), the second brought significantly improved online capabilities, and the third added "pro" modes to accurately learn the real songs on the real instruments as well as a slew of other tweaks to streamline the gaming experience.
I just realized I was getting off track nerding out. Let me get back to my point: gaming communities. Rock Band's tends to be more relaxed, easier going, and enjoys music for music. Guitar Hero's fans just wanted a challenge and didn't care about how glorious a song was if it was too easy. Rock Band is still alive and well, Guitar Hero is officially done as a franchise.
And I tell you all of this to get into the issue that's really eating at me: League of Legends has the single solitary worst gaming community of all time, bar none. Which really sucks, because I love the game from a gameplay aspect and from the potential of awesome some of the other players could be, and really loved it when it was still an indie title mainstream media didn't know about. It used to be somewhat exclusive, back in the days of the beta. The only way to play was if someone invited you or you were randomly selected after applying to get into it. The community was awesome then. Now that it's free to play and so incredibly wide-spread, it's turned into something sinister. 4chan kiddies got a hold of it, which inherently ruins anything. It's nothing but meme-spewing jerks who think they are funny typing "u mad?" every time they get a kill, or a billion other even more obnoxious things. I'm the type of guy who thrives on good sportsmanship and absolutely loses it when people are poor sports. I love telling the other team if they beat me and were a genuine challenge how good they were and it was a pleasure going against them. (If I could, I'd love rematches in those situations too but alas, setting up something like that would require more time and patience than I have.) LOL's community, however, is too hellbent on each person trying to prove their own individual worth it's nothing but jerk after jerk telling each other person how bad they are at video games, how that person should uninstall, how that person should never have been conceived, etc. etc. It gets virulent, positively cretinous, absolutely and unequivocally rude.
And yet I still go back and play it because the good times are worth it to me as I still enjoy the strategy and skill involved. I guess I'm the real sucker. It's too bad I don't have the power and station in the world to call a successful boycott or... I don't even know how I'd go about changing this phenomenon. That's the real problem. Changing the behavior of massive groups of people is near impossible, as anyone involved in the political madness of this country can tell you.
I just hope people could not be so serious and choose to extend a word of friendship to another online as opposed to keeping up the continually overaggressive "I have no social rules to follow online because being an obnoxious asshole on the internet has no social repercussions with me as a person in meatlife" bullshit.
No greater example of this in my life than Disgaea. I first heard it described, in this little teeny blurb in an Electronic Gaming Monthly which I used to subscribe to, as "Tim Burton-esque characters meet Final Fantasy Tactics." Seeing as FFT is one of my all time favorites ever, I checked it out and ended up making it a first day purchase after reading up as much as I could. Absolutely loved the title because the developers made a solid game with a lovable story with fantastic characters. It wasn't a focus-group tested product designed to sell the most copies; it was simply a passion of some nerdy doods that love that style of gameplay. Luckily it caught on and a 4th installment is due to come out on the Playstation 3 later. Big title? Not in the least. Is it going to be awesome? I guarantee it.
The communities that pop up around every game always surprise me. Another reason I love Indie titles is they usually have the most supportive, loyal, caring fans in the world. It's not a bunch of spoon-fed whiney brats who feel all games need to cater to their specific every need. They tend to draw a more explorative bunch. I think the best example of this is the dichotomy of Guitar Hero's fanbase as opposed to Rock Band. The first two Guitar Heroes were excellent and developed by Harmonix, a really small company at the time driven by a motto of For Musicians by Musicians. They, meaning Harmonix's core staffers and programmers, were musicians first and gamers second. They decided after the success of the series, they wanted to design a game encapsulating all elements of music in terms of instruments rather than simply focus on the guitar. So Activision, being the greedy evil bastards they are, kicked Harmonix off their roster of developers, gave the Guitar Hero franchise to some hacks, and attempted to cash in on someone else's well-thought-out hard work without considering WHY the title was successful. Rock Band drew a more niche crowd at the time due to the steep price of entry while Guitar Hero exploded, initially, as the new hot trending thing.
Harmonix always kept thinking how to make their product what they wanted, while Guitar Hero started catering to all those clamoring the games weren't difficult enough and needed more challenging songs. Eventually the franchise saw a ton of super difficult songs that were near unlistenable to the majority of audiences. (Sorry, hardcore metal fans, but singers actually emitting real words is inherently better than inane grumble-screams.) It became difficult to the point many gamers were turned off, and Activision never figured out the problem. They decided to release edition after edition of the game with no real differences, while Harmonix only has 3 core titles (RB: Beatles can be considered a 4th as it's music is only in it's own game) and each markedly improved from the last,with all the off-shoots having the ability for their songs to be imported into the core titles so it's more like expansions than "full new titles." The original rock band brought multiple tracks to each song (not just guitar, now, but bass, drums, and vocals. As my brother Colin put it, it's Karaoke on crack), the second brought significantly improved online capabilities, and the third added "pro" modes to accurately learn the real songs on the real instruments as well as a slew of other tweaks to streamline the gaming experience.
I just realized I was getting off track nerding out. Let me get back to my point: gaming communities. Rock Band's tends to be more relaxed, easier going, and enjoys music for music. Guitar Hero's fans just wanted a challenge and didn't care about how glorious a song was if it was too easy. Rock Band is still alive and well, Guitar Hero is officially done as a franchise.
And I tell you all of this to get into the issue that's really eating at me: League of Legends has the single solitary worst gaming community of all time, bar none. Which really sucks, because I love the game from a gameplay aspect and from the potential of awesome some of the other players could be, and really loved it when it was still an indie title mainstream media didn't know about. It used to be somewhat exclusive, back in the days of the beta. The only way to play was if someone invited you or you were randomly selected after applying to get into it. The community was awesome then. Now that it's free to play and so incredibly wide-spread, it's turned into something sinister. 4chan kiddies got a hold of it, which inherently ruins anything. It's nothing but meme-spewing jerks who think they are funny typing "u mad?" every time they get a kill, or a billion other even more obnoxious things. I'm the type of guy who thrives on good sportsmanship and absolutely loses it when people are poor sports. I love telling the other team if they beat me and were a genuine challenge how good they were and it was a pleasure going against them. (If I could, I'd love rematches in those situations too but alas, setting up something like that would require more time and patience than I have.) LOL's community, however, is too hellbent on each person trying to prove their own individual worth it's nothing but jerk after jerk telling each other person how bad they are at video games, how that person should uninstall, how that person should never have been conceived, etc. etc. It gets virulent, positively cretinous, absolutely and unequivocally rude.
And yet I still go back and play it because the good times are worth it to me as I still enjoy the strategy and skill involved. I guess I'm the real sucker. It's too bad I don't have the power and station in the world to call a successful boycott or... I don't even know how I'd go about changing this phenomenon. That's the real problem. Changing the behavior of massive groups of people is near impossible, as anyone involved in the political madness of this country can tell you.
I just hope people could not be so serious and choose to extend a word of friendship to another online as opposed to keeping up the continually overaggressive "I have no social rules to follow online because being an obnoxious asshole on the internet has no social repercussions with me as a person in meatlife" bullshit.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
The Little Accomplishments
Figured I'll do what any good first post on a Blog does and first let you know what you can come to expect at Get Serious before getting into something I've been thinking about a lot today.
I consider myself a man of principles. I adhere to my beliefs about what is right and wrong in an extreme way. As such, I have a lot of views most people don't necessarily share. I am outspoken and not afraid to voice my opinions.
I'm also happily geeked out. I've been nerdy about everything for as long as I could remember. It's a trait I share with my dad: if I'm going to get into something, I'm going to do it 100 percent. Used to hate sports as a kid, now I can't get enough sports talk about the NFL or NBA. Always been a video game nerd, and always with the really fringe titles though I've really sunk my teeth into the Rock Band franchise.
Rock Band specifically leads me into my first post. Little accomplishments matter in a big way. I am ranked, as of this post, number 999th in the world for career Drums score on Rock Band 3. (And I have recently downloaded some more songs so going through them, even poorly, would up that a couple points.) I think that's a pretty cool deal. It's such a nerdy pasttime, but I'm good at it and being in the top thousand means something special to me. Especially because sales figures place the XB360 version of the game at over 600,000 units sold worldwide and has an even larger player base than games sold because not everyone owns the game that plays it. My brother, for example, doesn't own a copy and has yet played it a lot alongside me.
It pushes me to keep trying to get better. Maybe it is something that does not matter (although the skills I have learned on the plastic drums helped a lot the few times I have had an opportunity to use real drum kits) and something that won't get me any respect among my peers. The important thing is that it matters to me and knowing I'm good at it makes me feel good and adds value to my existence. It's something to take pride in.
I wished I had learned that lesson at a younger age: Take pride in something. Anything. It really doesn't even matter what it is. It doesn't matter if it's something that will never make you a buck because if you're good at something, your self esteem grows in a genuinely healthy way. I have dealt with depression a majority of my life. Doctors told me it was from lack of brain chemicals working correctly. Shrinks told me it was from repressed anger from being abused as a child. (Which, by the way, is false. I was never abused. Psychiatrists are crooks and you should make fun of anyone telling you they majored in it.) I feel it's from a complete lack of self-worth. Never had many friends, never really excelled at anything outside of school, never really had anything I was good at. I never understood the value of looking at what I did and saying "This isn't half bad. I should try to improve upon it and do even better next time."
So that is my lesson for today, friend. If there is anything I know, it's that there is always room for improvement in your life. Next time something makes you sad because you couldn't do it or you weren't as successful as you'd like to be at it, punch it squaw in the stomach and take back control. Practice til you perfect it.
I consider myself a man of principles. I adhere to my beliefs about what is right and wrong in an extreme way. As such, I have a lot of views most people don't necessarily share. I am outspoken and not afraid to voice my opinions.
I'm also happily geeked out. I've been nerdy about everything for as long as I could remember. It's a trait I share with my dad: if I'm going to get into something, I'm going to do it 100 percent. Used to hate sports as a kid, now I can't get enough sports talk about the NFL or NBA. Always been a video game nerd, and always with the really fringe titles though I've really sunk my teeth into the Rock Band franchise.
Rock Band specifically leads me into my first post. Little accomplishments matter in a big way. I am ranked, as of this post, number 999th in the world for career Drums score on Rock Band 3. (And I have recently downloaded some more songs so going through them, even poorly, would up that a couple points.) I think that's a pretty cool deal. It's such a nerdy pasttime, but I'm good at it and being in the top thousand means something special to me. Especially because sales figures place the XB360 version of the game at over 600,000 units sold worldwide and has an even larger player base than games sold because not everyone owns the game that plays it. My brother, for example, doesn't own a copy and has yet played it a lot alongside me.
It pushes me to keep trying to get better. Maybe it is something that does not matter (although the skills I have learned on the plastic drums helped a lot the few times I have had an opportunity to use real drum kits) and something that won't get me any respect among my peers. The important thing is that it matters to me and knowing I'm good at it makes me feel good and adds value to my existence. It's something to take pride in.
I wished I had learned that lesson at a younger age: Take pride in something. Anything. It really doesn't even matter what it is. It doesn't matter if it's something that will never make you a buck because if you're good at something, your self esteem grows in a genuinely healthy way. I have dealt with depression a majority of my life. Doctors told me it was from lack of brain chemicals working correctly. Shrinks told me it was from repressed anger from being abused as a child. (Which, by the way, is false. I was never abused. Psychiatrists are crooks and you should make fun of anyone telling you they majored in it.) I feel it's from a complete lack of self-worth. Never had many friends, never really excelled at anything outside of school, never really had anything I was good at. I never understood the value of looking at what I did and saying "This isn't half bad. I should try to improve upon it and do even better next time."
So that is my lesson for today, friend. If there is anything I know, it's that there is always room for improvement in your life. Next time something makes you sad because you couldn't do it or you weren't as successful as you'd like to be at it, punch it squaw in the stomach and take back control. Practice til you perfect it.
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