Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Screwing around

Preparing to: inject some time into my favorite addiction...WoW

So Corb and I ended up helping Trip put together his computer desk today. It's fair to say the three of us spent the night screwing...and don't think we didn't make that joke plenty. It went fairly smoothly, aside from mixing up one set of screws and one screw refusing to go in right. I enjoyed it really, it's like a puzzle.

Tomorrow we're supposed to get together with Kevin and play some Halo 2 and that should be cool. He's bringing down his Xbox, so I don't have to sweat lugging mine around. I'm looking forward to hanging.

Not much else going on besides playing WoW. I think tomorrow afternoon I may try to put up a few words about some of the cool things in the game. I haven't been specific because I wasn't sure my readers (both of you) would be interested. Then I realized...I don't care. It's called incoherent rambling for a reason people.

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Father and son


Here's a pic of my brother Gabe holding young Cam. Aren't they cute. Posted by Hello

Here is a photo of my nephew Cameron. Say hello to the little guy. Posted by Hello

Monday, December 27, 2004

A new life

Oh I haven't mentioned it yet, because I was waiting for a photo to post. But my bro seems to be a little too busy to send along a photo. Anyway I am now an uncle... I am officially Weird Uncle E. Young Cameron Alexander Cardwell (I'm not sure of that spelling, I'm actually hoping for Kameron, but whatever) joined the festivities on Dec. 23, with no exceptional difficulties so sayeth Gabe, his father.

So that's kinda cool, I have a new life to turn to the dark side. So here's to the continuation of my family line...as scary as that sounds. I'll put up the pics as soon as they come.

Skip to the end, how do I kill it?

Well the holiday season is closing down, with only one more depressing holiday left, New Year's Day. Hopefully I can make it through it. Xmas wasn't so bad, hanging with friends, playing video games, eating way too much.

Yesterday I watched the Steelers avenge their lone loss of the season, topping the Ravens. Those guys simply look good across the board. Roethlisberger got injured and that worried me, but hopefully he'll be ok. Next week's week's game with Buffalo is a bit of a problem tho. The Steelers have absolutely nothing to play for, while the Bills are in the playoff hunt. But a loss right before the playoffs is not good for momentum. I think that game could be a real problem, especially since someone always gets injured in a game like that, to add irony.

I also spent some time watching movies instead of playing WoW (it's a step forward). I watched Hellboy, which was good the second time around. I also watched Return of the King (tho I did play a little WoW, through the first bit) and I wasn't sure what they added for the extended edition. It's hard to tell since I only saw it once in the theatre about a year ago, not that it makes that much difference.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

I was well hung by the chimney with care

Been busy doing this and that the last coupla days. I've been peppering my WoW time with actual entertainment outside the home. Last night, Mike and I rolled out into the party town that is Martinsville. On Xmas Eve the only thing open was Sportlanes and that was totally sad...totally sad.

I suppose we could have gone to the Dutch Inn, but I soo hate that place that I refused. We ended up going to Trip's for a bit of Halo 2. I schooled them both and we called it an early night. I then went into full gaming nerd mode (ok, I'm always in full gaming nerd mode).

Today I sat around playing WoW and then hooked up with Trip and Corb for a little Halo 2. We also watched Greg the Bunny, which Trip got on DVD for Xmas. Too bad they cancelled it, it was jsut the right amount of absurd. Plus I love puppets in adult situations...well I'm actually not big on puppet porn, but I like say PG-13 to R rated puppets.

Friday, December 24, 2004

Trix are for kids

I had a really good time tonight. We (Mike and I) had planned to go to Roanoke and hang with Kev, which woulda been cool, but that didn't pan out. I was a little disappointed when I found out, but had a good time anyway. We (Mike, Greg, Sharon and I) ended up going to G-boro for some last minute shopping (which blew) and then had a nice dinner at Carrabas (sirloin marsala is yummy).

After that we hit a coupla bars, hooked up with Nick and Abby and that was cool. We left before it got terribly late, as Greg was semi-concious from lack of sleep. After dropping them off, Mike and I hooked up with Chafin and Rick, who I hadnt' hung with in years, and went back to Chafin's pad. It was a harrowing drive back there because he lives in bumfuck Laurel Park and was swerving quite a bit. Still we had a good time hanging out and I'm definitely gonna have to get up with them again. We watched part of Kill Bill Vol. 1 and that made me want to see it even more. I'm now jonesing for some kung fu action.

Anyway tomorrow is X-mas Eve, which doesn't really mean much to me other than everything will be closed. I'm not as much of a humbug as I used to be, but I'll still be glad to get all the malls and traffic back to normal levels.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Fear the nose tackle dive

Hit G-boro last night for some poker action. We played tournament style, which I hate and I went out in eighth place. It sucked because I got beat by a runner runner straight draw, but what are you gonna do? It could have been worse, one guy went out on the first hand with pocket aces. It doesn't get much worse than that.

After that Mike, Nick and myself hit JP Looney's for a coupla beers and some food and that was cool. We sat around talking about the good old days of Techmo Bowl. Good times.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Obsessions and records

Now watching: ESPN (PTI)

So I've been playing tons of WoW, no surprise. My warlock is now up to level 29 and building. I love almost everything about this game, it's just awesome. I can't get enough. I am constantly driven to keep moving my character up in level, but even more I'm constantly driven to keep doing something. Even when I'm not working to get xp, I'm having fun. It's cool hanging around the auction house. It's fun to build your fishing skill (which really isn't an exciting activity). It's simply Warcrack.

Other than that I've been watching the final season of Buffy. That show is so good, it's unbelievable. The characters have nice depth and real motivations that play out in the show. It's funny, without giving in to sacrificing the plot for humor. It's a sad thing that the show is over.

Watched some football yesterday. I know Nick was happy that Marino's record stands another week, but Peyton Manning will get it next week. Peyton showed some class, not throwing the ball with the game in hand. Taking the knee shows he deserves to be a legend.

I am with Nick tonight, tho. I am rooting for the Phins to kick the crap out of the Pats. It's a long shot, but stranger things have happened.

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Total domination

Now watching: football

Went to Kevin and Courtney's Xmas gathering yesterday and had a good time. It was low key and that's fine with me. Had some nice rosemary pinwheels and hung out.

After that Trip and I got some pizza and came back to his place. We just watched football (which is notable as Trip isn't a football fan) and chilled out. It was an interesting game to watch, the Panthers dominated the Falcons, but weren't able to put enough points on the board. Trip contends that if the score is tied, then the Panthers didn't dominate. He doesn't understand that the battle for yardage is integral to football success. Or rather he refused to acknowledge it to antagonize me, either way.

I was rooting for Carolina, until they played for the tie with 1:30 left. How stupid is that? The game was tied and they had a chance to run a 2-minute drill and they let the clock go. Total pussy-ball. So they go to OT, the Panthers throw a pick and Atlanta wins. That's what happens when you play to tie.

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Aim low

Now listening to: Fugazi

Had a nice dinner with Jeff, his wife Melissa, Corb and Trip tonight. We went to Rania's, which Trip hates. Sadly the restaurant did nothing to change his opinion and may have turned me toward his way of thinking a little. His pasta was watery and he reported his chicken as being tough. My steak was less than well prepared, but my crab cake was excellent. The ambience is nice, tho. Still not a great meal, all told. But we still had a good time. It was cool to see Jeff and Melissa, since I see them once or twice a year.

Jeff got me Dodgeball for X-mas and we watched that at Trip's after eating. Man is that movie funny. I'm giving it a foot massage rating, with some filet mignon lines. Trip got Corb and I (and also Danny, who hasn't received his yet) a little remote controlled tank so we could play mini-Combat for real. It's pretty cool. Trip's German Tiger tank is uber-fast tho, so he has the maneuverabilty advantage over my Russian T-35.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to go to Kev's for a little Xmas party thing. I'm a little leary. First of all, it means I have to be moderately sociable for two days in a row. We all know that my social batteries can run low and I turn into Capt. Surly quick. Also the party is scheduled during the middle of the Steelers-Giants game. A season like this doesn't come along every year and I want to enjoy it to the fullest. I suppose I'll go, but I'm gonna lobby Kev to get to watch the game.

Friday, December 17, 2004

Merry Christmas, Kiss my ass, Kiss his ass, Kiss your ass, Happy Hannukah

Now listening to: The Eels

So I've been to distracted to blog lately. I've been caught up with WoW and X-mas crap. So I'll recap my week since my last post. Wednesday I stayed at home and watched The Stepford Wives with Mom. It was ok, nothing special. I'd say Meh. overall. Mom then watched Meet the Parents, which she likes a lot. I kinda half watched, half played WoW. That about wraps up that.

Today Trip and I went to Danville, had a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesday's and did some final shopping. I finally found one of the things I've been looking high and low for and so that's cool. We then came home and watched The Apprentice, which I'm glad is over. Of course the militant white guy won, it's the rules of business.

After that a little Halo 2 action (I was really rusty for the first few games, then turned it on a bit.) Finally we watched Conan and I came home.

On arriving at my doorstep there were, not one, but two county sheriffs in my driveway. Or rather their cars were in the driveway. Mom was up and annoyed, as the downstairs neighbors had had a fight earlier. It's so fun to have lively neighbors...can someone tell me why I shouldn't hate people?

Anyway now I intend to get a little WoW time in and then go to bed at a semi-reasonable hour. I need to get up and put together some gift packages for the holiday feast tomorrow. Jeff is coming in and I'm looking forward to a fun evening.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Startling confessions

I battled the WoW addiction and won! Well I won for the moment yesterday. Of course it wasn't as tho I did anything uselful, I just started watching the final season of Buffy, which is good so far. Still I did step away from the game and nothing bad happened...yet.

I also watched The Biggest Loser. You know what amazes me about reality tv? These people realize they are in a game and know that someone will probably have to get screwed for the others to win. Then they get all testy when they are the one's that get screwed. Come on, it's a game. It shouldn't come as a shock that someone lied. Ohh no, they put themselves in front of you. Big surprise. I'd pistol whip some of my closest friends for that type of money. I'd feel bad about it, but I'd have to do it. (I'm looking at you Trip.)

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

You're like a big floppy cock

I'm currently torn between watching the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I borrowed from Trip, and playing more WoW. It's a conundrum. What to do, what to do?

Yesterday I finished off most of my X-Mas shopping. Man do I hate going to the mall this time of year. I run into everyone I know and have to deal with stupid people. It's a pain. The place was packed yesterday.

After that I went to Trip's and we watched American Wedding, which was better than either of us expected. It was a lot better than the second American Pie movie, which is faint praise, really, but it was pretty good. I'd give it +1 chainmail.

After that we got into a little Halo 2 action and Team Rocket Sauce kicked a little ass. We can't be denied.

Monday, December 13, 2004

I collected all the bear tongues I needed to start a plague

Ohh this weekend was fun. I played video games pretty much every waking moment. Of course I've been power leveling my undead warlock on World of Warcraft and that game gets better and better. I'm loving it.

On Saturday, after an afternoon of WoW Corb, Danny and myself metriculated over to Trip's for a nice Halo 2 LAN party and had a good time. It was really fun. I have to be honest, I figured that having played on Live would have made playing with only four people less fun, boring even. But that wasn't the case at all. We experimented with game types and had ball. After leaving Trip's I played WoW until 5 a.m., it seemed like I blinked and three hours were gone.

I got back on the WoW horse again on Sunday, with only a brief respite to watch the Steelers top the Jets. It was a great game. Good defense both ways and I love seeing Jerome Bettis get the glory. He is the man. His TD pass was inspired play calling. Pittsburgh moves to 12-1 and clinches a playoff spot. We just have to keep pace with the Patriots and keep home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Not sure what my plan is today. I need to close out some Xmas shopping. I also may try to step away from the laptop and not play WoW for a bit. I'll probably end up playing anyway.

Saturday, December 11, 2004

We don't have time to train a cat

Yesterday was all about two ends of the movie spectrum. I got up early (noon) again and Trip and I caught an Ocean's 12 matinee. It was nice, only five other people in the theatre and they wanted to see the movie, not chat. The movie was really good. I loved the first one and this one was almost as good. Again, nothing beats a good caper movie, especially not with that cast. I'd saying it was filet mignon, despite a couple of moments of implausibility.

After that sterling start to the day, we went to Blockbuster and rented Starship Troopers 2. OK I really liked the first Starship Troopers. He had next to nothing to do with Heinlein's book (aside from the title and the bugs) but it was fun. Also I thought it had a certain style. The sequel, however, didn't have any sort of style.

It had a few moments of decent CG, but when compared to the horrible sets and props, it only went to emphasis how crappy they were. They must have gotten extra cash for CG by not bothering to hire real actors. They just got derelicts off the streets to play the roles and it was abysmal. I had low expectations going in and it didn't even meet those. So I have to give this movie the gas face with a torn colon rating.

Incidently I am considering changing my rating system a hair, by getting rid of the shaq-fu rating and replacing it with the stink eye. I'll ruminate on that today.

Friday, December 10, 2004

Not cold enough yet...but I dig the rain

Now listening to: Interpol

Arrghh I'm tired. I got up at the buttcrack of dawn and Trip and I went Xmas shopping for like 14 hours. ...ok it was 11 a.m. (a.m.!!!!) and we shoped for around six hours, but I'm still highly tired. I spent a grotesque amount of money. I get caught up in Xmas shopping. I'm buying stuff for friends, then I buy something for me. Sort of a one for you, one for me policy. I wish I could get rid of it, but I'm a selfish bastard.

We stomped around the mall a lot and for a Thursday afternoon it was packed. I kept thinking it was Saturday. (Who keeps up with the days of the week?) After all the consumerism, we came home and watched reality tv. It was a truly American day.

We also watched the movie Confidence, which was pretty good. Dustin Hoffman, Edward Burns and Rachel Weisz (rowr!) all were excellent. It was a good caper movie and I'd say it gets the +1 chainmail. Also Paul Giamatti was his usual excellent self in a supporting role.

On my drive home I saw lots of fire trucks rolling around. It was rainy, with lightning and clearly the lightning started some fire. I had loads of horrible imagery of my apartment being on fire with my parents dead and everything I own burnt. Isn't it terrible when a thought like that comes into your head and you think about how dreadful it would be to have to have something like that happen. Needless to say I was thankful nothing of the sort occurred to me.

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Digital madness

I started the day playing Space Invaders and got the high score at cheapassgamer.com. I then moved into WoW for a bit...ok more like a few hours. I had dinner, then played Halo 2 for about 45 minutes. I sucked completely at Halo 2. I'm not sure why I'm playing so poorly lately. It blows.

After that I went in for a marathon session of WoW. I played until I my ass was sore from sitting in the chair. But I'm almost up to 19th level, which is pretty sweet.

Do I have a video game addiction? I dunno, but tomorrow I'm gonna go out and do some X-mas shopping and get some fresh air.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

We don't know the half of it

Now listening to: lots of Wednesday Morning Downloads I've gotten from Salon.com but never actually listened to

I think I get duller by the minute. I don't do much besides watch tv, eat and play video games. I get more and more antisocial by the day. It's sometimes funny to realize that what I'm doing is a result of my desire to avoid people. Even in WoW I prefer doing things alone and not playing with other gamers. Hell, Nick invited me to play poker tonight and I declined because I didn't feel like being social.

I also had a severely sad moment in WoW today. I had joined a group (against my will) and during a break in the adventuring they brought up their ages. Their ages were 14, 15 and 17 and then they asked mine. God I felt like such an old bastard saying 30. It also boggled my mind, because I couldn't imagine a scenario where I would ask my parents for a $50 game (assuming we had a relatively new computer that could play it) and then a monthly fee added on top. Oh and it comes out at the end of Dec. before Xmas, so it can't be that type of gift. I was agog.

Cyborgs are afraid of peekabo

Now watching: The Upright Citizens Brigade

Haven't done anything of interest in the last two days. Played WoW a bit, played a little Halo 2 and watched a bit of the Cowboys-Seahawks game. Nothing special. I'm in desperate need of a life.

I finally got a decent start on Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It's very slow at this point, but I'm hoping it picks up. I suppose the topic of 19th century British magic doesn't lend itself to a fast start.

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Such is my faith

Now listening to: Nick Cave

I can't believe the Steelers pulled off that win. I really thought Jacksonville had it in the bag, but Pittsburgh managed to pull of a crazy finale to take the victory. Wow. The Steelers made so many mistakes that should have added up to a loss: tons of penalties, coverage breakdowns on third-and-long, and getting away from the run. Still they won... I'm hoping that kind of mental toughness will play out in the playoffs as well. It's also nice that Big Ben remains unbeaten. I'm hoping for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Jaguars are gonna be good in a year or two. Leftwich is dangerous and with that kind of play they could be on the road to success. Of course half the players on their team are former Steelers.

Played a ton of WoW this afternoon and I'm loving it. My undead warlock is up to level 15. Wow...you can't say that without sounding like a total nerd. It is getting more challenging tho and I'll probably be forced to do some grouping soon, which I'm not overly keen on. I like to solo. I'm a loner Dotty, a rebel.

I also finished the second Lemony Snicket book and it was decent. I'm debating reading the third now, because they really aren't happy, fun-time books. They are kinda depressing. Not bad, mind you, just a there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

It would have killed a lesser man

I just had a close encounter of the deer kind. Coming home from Trip's I turned onto my road. Lo and behold there was a veritable herd standing either on the road or just off of it. I slammed on the brakes and managed to not hit another deer. The one I was mere feet from lambasting was around a six-point buck. He should thank his lucky stars that he had a run in with "The Deerslayer" and lived to tell the tale.

I call my Jeep "The Deerslayer" because it has three confirmed kills and not much damage to show for it. Its story is whispered late at night in the sleeping dens of deer to scare the fawns into good behavior. Of course I have no animosity to the deer population and make no attempt at malicious driving, it's just that they are a constant threat to automobiles around these parts.

Anyway not much went on today, played a bit of WoW and then cleaned out my closet. Packed up a lot of old clothes and cleared some space. I then lounged for a while and went to Trip's. We went out and rented Walking Tall, starring The Rock. Trip has told me that the original was really good and I'd like to see it, but Netflix is gone for now. Oh well.

The new Walking Tall was 73 minutes of film that didn't bother with any of that pesky character development or narrative. It was all about The Rock beating people down with a 4x4 block of wood. Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? A mindless action movie that I'd say was Meh. I do have to admit that I liked Johnny Knoxville being a goof and had a good time making fun of the movie with Trip.

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Bow to my will, minion

Now listening to: Interpol

Took my PS2 to Trip's today to show him Katamari Damancy, which he enjoying right up until he got completely fed up with it. I've never seen such a swift turnaround. I forgot to bring my second controller, so there was no multiplayer to be had, which slowed things down a bit. It occured to me that I never play my PS2 anymore and it's fairly useless to me. I occasionally look through the PS2 games, but I've got so many XBox or PC games I'd rather play that it's kinda moot.


Corb came over later and we ended up going the way of Halo 2 for much of the evening. It was fun, well except for that one level where I couldn't get a kill to save my life. That was just sad. We didn't play any team games, so Team Rocket Sauce never got into any action.

Corb commented on my poker winnings the other day by saying I was "very brave." This was because I am unemployed and spent money on gambling. Apparently he thinks I'm Oliver Twist and put my last nickel on a roll of the dice. I suppose in his mind gambling is the same regardless of it you're playing poker or the lottery. But to rest his mind, I am not completely destitute (yet) and playing poker with 10 guys means I have a one in ten chance of winning, or better if my skills are better than their's. It also helpes when the cards come in your favor, which they certainly did last Friday.

Anyhoo, I'm getting back to my WoW addiction. The more I play, the more I want to play. It's that good. For Khaz Modan!!

Friday, December 03, 2004

For the Horde!!

Now listening to: ambient webradio

Had a good story idea on my way home from Trip's tonight. I came in, hooked up my laptop (which I took to Trip's to show off World of Warcraft) and wrote the first page. I stopped there because WoW is beckoning to me. I know, I'm lazy and far too easily distracted. Still it's better to have done something. Plus I think I need to let the idea gestate a little more and develop into a story arc, all I've got now is a premise and a general idea. I need to work on filling in the blanks. I'm not going to tell the idea, because where is the fun in that? I prefer to torture my few readers.

Today was all about WoW. I spent the afternoon reading about the questions I had after starting to play last night and then played for the rest of the afternoon. I then packed up and went to Trip's to let him play. I ended up starting a new character while I was there, an Orcish warrior. All Horde, all the time.

Mom also brought me some more books home from the library. I got a couple of Lemony Snicket books to power through and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which sounded pretty cool when I read the flap. So I have plenty to keep me busy for a bit.

Oh I forgot to mention I finally followed through and cancelled Netflix. While I have absolutely no complaints about the service, I wanted to do something else for a while. Plus I can't really justify playing monthly fees for both WoW and Netflix, I can only handle so much entertainment. Off to Azeroth!!!

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Sunless tanning lotion

Now watching: South Park

Had a good time in Roanoke today. Hooked up with Kev and we did a little shopping. I did manage to control my spending for the most part, although I did come away with World of Warcraft. But that was about all I bought, besides coffee and dinner. My frugal nature took hold, hell I even had buyer's remorse for WoW on the way home. The only problem was I did none of the X-mas shopping I intended. Oh well.

For dinner Kev and I hooked up with Adam at Red Palace and it was cool hanging out. That's one of the worst things about getting older, not seeing your friends as much because they have real lives. Not me tho, I've resisted the urge to become an adult and will continue to fritter my life away with video games and sleeping into the afternoon.

Anyway I'm gonna get into some Horde action now and get my undead warlock on. Woo.

Fear him

Posted by Hello

Team Rocket Sauce lives!!

Now listening to: an amalgam of hits I received from Trip

A more laidback day after Mike left town i.e. no poker or alcohol. I spent the afternoon watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. While I still maintain that this is the best movie of the three, particularly visually, I didn't like it as much the second time around. It's still good, but it runs a little slow at moments or maybe I just wasn't in the mood, I dunno.

I then hit the Halo 2 Rumble Pit and moved myself on up to level 9 and watched PTI, which is the best sports show on tv. I then headed over to Trip's and we finished up XMen Legends finally. I'd give the game a nice foot massage rating. I'm probably gonna trade that and Burnout 3 in tomorrow.

We watched The Biggest Loser again and it had a nice twist at the end, so that was fun. I swear I hate being caught up in a reality show, but this is something I can relate to. After that we hit the Halo 2 and had a good time. Together Trip and I form Team Rocket Sauce and we ran some hos and had a little fun. It was actually the first time I've really enjoyed playing team games.