Tomorrowland

     Hey all, switching back to the normal format for a couple days. As I was writing yesterday's blog which was a Halo one, I began to want to talk about just what was going on. Thankfully I held off and I have a longer blog today because of it. So here we are

     The Hobbit trailer came out yesterday and I am pretty fucking excited for it. I love Lord of the Rings. I did the extended LotR marathon 4 separate times this past semester. I need some new fantasy-genre movies that don't suck. That coupled with the Dark Knight Rises trailer? Whoo, am I excited for these movies. Although something with The Dark Knight Rises seems off to me.

     Now, this is going to get some negative feedback, but hear me out. I could see, despite how good the trailer looked, that the new batman movie could, and possibly will suck terribly. Nolan doesn't seem to care what gets leaked, as we've seen so many things from camera phones. Haven't heard of security, Nolan? No one can understand what Bane is saying and evidently, Anne Hathaway has been getting some criticism because of how her voice sounds. Nolan has stated that he isn't changing either problem. Plus, if it sucks, it will leave us wanting another batman movie to make up for it. How many batman movies have there been now? Having this one suck will allow the studios to reboot the series in a few years. You see it happening even now with Spider-Man. You just wait. I hope I'm wrong, but I can't rule out the possibility that TDKR is going to be bad.

     I got back into contact with Volgi today, thanks to Rojek. So there are currently plans in the works for us tonight. Dan will hopefully join us as well. I also talked with Mike today and according to him, he, Matt, and myself are hanging out on Friday, when Matt gets back from Madison.

     I was out in the hot tub yesterday afternoon and it finally began to snow. It was so pleasant to be in the hot water, while still getting snowed on. But an odd thing occurred once the snow began to fall. Across my deck is a tall tree and near the top was a squirrel yelling. And I mean like actually yelling. It made some pattern of noises and then shrieked twice, and would repeat that for the next like... ten minutes or so. I couldn't help but imagine that it was calling out the snow to his fellow squirrel friends, possibly a scout team for a larger squirrel city or civilization. This squirrel's job would be to warn his fellow squirrel brethren that was  

     My fantasy football league is coming to a close and I finally lost last week, so this coming week, I'll be playing for 3rd place. Hopefully I'll win so that I can have it twice in a row, plus I'll get paid if I win this match, albeit only my money back.

     I played a game of Heroica, which is one of those Lego board games. It's like a demi version of Dungeons and Dragons. What's cool though is that you can connect all 4 sets and have them be one big game board. Plus it doesn't cost nearly as much as D&D does. And if you alter the rules, it makes the game much more fun to play and doesn't even guarantee that there will be a winner at the end of it. If you die in the game, that's that. You're dead and unless you have the right combination of items, you aren't coming back to see the end. It's good for what I want, something a bit faster and I can do on my own time or with a few other people. If you like LEGO and are like me with D&D and don't want to spend too much, check out Heroica.

     I'm also now watching Limitless with Rojek right now. For those that haven't seen it, it's a very underrated movie and you should see it. It's on Netflix streaming or on itunes to rent or buy. It's with Bradley Cooper if you really have no clue what I'm talking about.

     I know this blog ended up being rather short, but oh well. Rojek just showed me this video of a music festival called Tomorrowland. I know the title has nothing to do with the various subject matters of this blog, but I thought it'd be cool to show. I'm not one for crowded music festivals or anything like that, but this place looks like it'd be a blast to go to, albeit when it's not crowded and full of sweaty people. Enjoy!

Until next time...

Christmastime is Here

     Today, I've decided that I will take a small break from the Halo story and continue it every once and a while, meanwhile publishing new blogs in between. And actually, I didn't write this today, I wrote this yesterday, which is actually today for me, even though it's technically tomorrow, since it's 12:40AM... So I'm writing this today. Isn't relative time perspective fun? I thought so. To save on confusion, I'll write this as if during the moment I publish it.

     So, Kim Jong Il is dead. I would make a Team America joke, but I'd bet that just about everyone, at least, in America did that already.... So I'll guess I'll just say, "You beat me to it, everyone ever." But honestly, Kim is dead, Saddam's dead (yes, I know this is slightly dated, but still), Bin Laden's dead, Castro is about to hit the ground (as far as I know). This seems to be a good time for America. If I were the dude from Iran, I'd be watching my back. Celebs always die in threes, dictators may be the same way hahaha. But to tell you the truth, I don't follow these subjects nearly as much as other people do. I actually prefer to ignore it all because for me, whatever happens, happens.

     Now, past small stuff, I'm not sure what exactly to talk about. I am waiting to continue the Halo piece, I have another draft of something going on right now, but I want to take a lot of time to get it right, when I'm feeling clear and not so distracted by Netflix or the music coming from my computer or when people aren't calling me down for favors...

     I won the one-and-only copy of Levi Hoffmeier's Halo fan-fiction book, "A Fistful of Arrows." Needless to say, I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I also won a copy of "Halo Evolutions I," which is also signed by all the authors. Very cool if you ask me. I did feel bad though, a friend of mine contacted me right after the 'Halo: Evolutions' auction ended asking me if I had won. I told him I had and as it turns out, he had put in a bid for $50, three seconds before it ended. For some reason though, it didn't register or something and I ended up winning it for $46. From what I remember, I had put in a max bid of $60, but even still... And to be perfectly honest, I don't need it. It was something small I felt I could get my hands on while getting more money towards the charity. So Keith, if you're reading, contact me about buying it. I was serious before when I asked if you were looking to get it before xmas or not.

     I also want to thank my friend, Laird, who kept me posted about the "A Fistful of Arrows" book, and who was also the one who donated all of the Halo items that went up for auction. He raised $6,400 USD after everything was said and done. Congratulations!

     I've also just bought a couple Nerf guns for our annual Christmas nerf gun war. It's me, my brother Travis, my sister Lizz, our cousin Michelle, and her two kids, Zoey and Xavier. I have a whole slew of Nerf guns and darts, but my dad requested I get a couple new guns, and good ones too- fully automatic. I ended up getting the "Raider Rapid Fire" which turns out isn't actually fully auto, but instead is a pump action...shotgun (I suppose) but it has this sweet drum clip. The other gun I got is called the "Stampede." This IS fully auto and boy is it fun to shoot. I'm excited to say the least. But for now, I have to clean my room, as there are darts covering my floor.

     Right now though? At this very moment? I'm just sitting here at my desk, drinking propel, watching Weeds on Netflix and writing. I did write another blog tonight actually, which I initially published but I felt it was too premature and was really the last part of my Halo story. So I reverted it back to a draft until the time is right. Plus it was rather melancholy and I could change the tone of it and make it fit the format of the other Halo parts. So, for those three of you that got to it before I reverted it, congrats.

     What else is there to talk about that won't drag this on for too long? Hmm... I did get my xmas shopping done, and if you put all the time actually shopping, it was easily the fastest xmas shopping I have ever done. I need to do internet shopping more often than I already do, especially for holidays like this.

     Well, it's a week before Christmas, and all through the house, not a sound could be heard, except the clicking of Jake's mouse (and keyboard, but that doesn't rhyme). So I'm naming this after one of my favorite Christmas songs, "Christmastime Is Here," by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. You may recognize it from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.

     Now, it's time for me to go lay in the hot tub, staring up at the dark clouds, hoping that it'll start to snow slowly, since I can't see the stars. And whether or not you celebrate Christmas, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't even matter that you have a happy holiday. What matters is that you're just happy. Good night, everyone.

Until next time...