2004: Year in Review

Well, today is the last day of 2004, so I thought I'd reflect on what happened in the past year. Quick mention of 2003 as well, just to compare.

In 2003 I was activated to take part in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and sent to Virginia to prepare for my deployment to Kuwait, which never happened. I was tied to the Army from January to November, performing somewhat random tasks. As you can imagine, being away from home and out of college for a year, took a lot out of me. In a year of a hurricane, fights I did not want to get involved in, war, and other things I can't talk about, 2003 was possibly the worst year of my life. It wasn't all bad though. The good points were buying a new car, getting promoted, immunization of Anthrax, reinforcing my relationship with a dear friend, and the good times I spent with my comrades.

2004 saw my return to school, which took a slight adjustment period but I managed to integrate myself back into the curriculum. I started getting familiar with Photoshop and learned more about drawing the human figure, thanks to all the naked people lying about. I also joined a gym, but only for about six months due to time constraints and distance of the gym in relation to my house. Over the summer I went to the Outer Banks with me best mate and some of the most amusing people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I almost moved out, but thought better of it in order to save money. I drastically limited my comic book buying, which helped when I bought a new computer and digital camera. (What was that about saving money?) With the new computer I also managed to get Adobe Photoshop, which has come in handy many times. I finally made my own action figure after delaying it for a couple years, although truthfully it isn't finished yet. I've also started this blog! The following semester I got my first 4.0 ever. I managed to ice skate without falling. Unfortunately, it wasn't a perfect year. The recent tsunami in Asia that killed over a hundred thousand people, the division of the country when it comes to politics, the war in Iraq still causing the deaths of US soldiers and Iraqi civilains, the death of Christopher Reeve, among other things.

But what's most significant about 2004 for me is that I believe this year, I've determined what kind of person I want to be, and this is the closest I've ever been.

It was a good year for me, all things considered.

Still don't have a girlfriend though.

Clothing Drive Update

Well, An(Drew) and I went to the DugoutZone at around 6 yesterday to donate some clothes. When we got there Brian Wilcox wasn't there yet. There was a long line running inside, and a lot of kids in Ravens gear eagerly awaiting his arrival. I wasn't there to see the guy, so I went to the owner and gave him the clothes myself. He gave me some kind remarks and shook my hand, then we left.

It really felt good to do that. I hope that Brian Wilcox did show, so hopefully all those kids weren't dissappointed, but I guess I won't find out until later.

The Red Cross called me a couple of days ago, and I made an appointment with them to donate blood, in order to make up for my horrible memory last week.

Not a bad way to end a good year. Especially better than 2003 ever was. Hey that gives me an idea! But it'll have to wait until morning.

Out.

Fun in My Pocket

No, not that kinda fun you pervs.

One of the things I got over the holidays was a really small digital camera. Small enough to fit in my pocket and simple enough to use. It hooks up to the computer using a USB cable to export the pics taken. It can take 20 pictures or 80 lower quality pictures, can hold one .avi video clip (the 80 pics in continuous shoot), and also functions as a webcam.

Zahir saw it and wanted a picture taken of the two of us. I took several but naturally I chose to post the one with the most EXTREME angle. Not a bad little toy, handy for parties and pics on the go. The pictures may not be the same quality as a REAL digital camera, but it's fun nonetheless. And again, it's easy to carry!

Congratulations Zahir! You're the first of my friends to appear on my blog! You almost lost out to my crotch shot though.

Note: I'll post the crotch shot if enough of you ask for it. What?

Zahir, Za-there, Za-everywhere!

Clothing Drive

When I picked up my comic books today from The DugoutZone, They told me about a clothing drive they are having tomorrow (Dec 30) from 6-7 pm. So I thought I'd tell you about it to hopefully promote a good cause.

Bring a new or clean (and in good condition) article of clothing to The DugoutZone at Chatham Station (where Chatham Mall used to be, off of Rt. 40) Thursday Dec 30 from 6pm to 7pm and you get an autograph from Daniel Wilcox, tight end of the Baltimore Ravens.

I for one, don't know who Daniel Wilcox is but I plan on bringing some articles of clothing tomorrow. Let me know if you want to donate anything. You can come with me or I can drop it off for you. Thanks.

My Knowledge Increases!

It's funny how some things work themselves out. Here I was with a lazy excuse for an update and before you know it...

...I learn a little more about posting pics. I love this Blogger thing!

Snake vs. Patricus

"It is I, Snake. Patricus Dork!"
"A name means nothing on the battlefield, but for you I'll make an exception."

...sausage.

There is no true reason for this update other than to push the holiday one back. I don't like looking at Christmas junk after the holiday passes.

But I don't have much to say. Lemme see if I can think of something.....

Comic...movie....pretzel...Dewey...

Nope, sorry. I'll just put up some pics instead.

Not quite Billy-Bob Thornton. 

The Uncanny X-Mas

Sorry again for the lack of updatage, but as you can guess, I've been a bit busy. Several bills came to me at what seems like the same time, and during the holiday season, that ain't good. I've also been keeping odd hours, so my sleeping patterns are off, which is why I'm posting this at 3AM Christmas morning.

I love giving presents to people, but I sure as Hell don't like to buy them. It got to the point where every time I swiped a credit card I'm removing a finger, it's so painful. Figuring out what to get for people is also a bugger. Do I go the traditional route with a normal present that's guaranteed the reciever will go, "Oh how nice..", or the quirky not-so-norm gift that bring's out a "That's AWESOME you r0x0rz!!" or a "WTF, mate?" Fighting the crowds and traffic is the best part! No it's not. I was being sarcastic.

Secret Santa's are fun though. I got mine one of those microbead pillow things...called a Fom. The "o" is supposed to have two dots or horizontal colon above it. Hehe, horizontal colon... And what did I recieve? Man, I got a good one. A Spider-Man cocoa and cookie mug set, a fleece throw blanket, also Spider-Man themed, a sketch pad and 3 mechanical Spider-Man pencils. In seeing my reaction, a co-worker asked the person who picked my name how she knew what to get me. She said, "It's like shopping for a big kid." I'll be sipping on that cocoa later on, you can count on that. I like recieving gifts as much as I like giving 'em!

Oh, at work we had a blood drive on my day off. I was encouraging others to sign up for it after I did, but in all the...stuff...I had to do, I forgot about it. That's about the fifth time my blood failed to reach those who need it.

My grandmother tried to talk me in to going to church for what I like to call the Ev' Serv, but I didn't want to go. But my little bro asked me to and I can't say no to him on the Eve. So I went and ran into a guy I hung out with back in my church-involved days of youth, Gene. Back in the day he was the King. And I was one of the other two Kings in that pageant long ago. The third King was a complete jerk named Danny C. We all had solos singing verses of We Three Kings. Anyway, since he was mega-religious and I'm mega-art...gious, I brought up the Washington Cathedral and we had a nice chat.

Also, it's good to see people I don't know posting comments on my blog, I want nothing more than my thoughts to be read and recieve feedback, so I appretiate that. Now if only the people I do know would do the same...

Happy Holidays gang! I'll catcha lata.

I Prefer DC

Remember when I talked about Identity Crisis last month? About how much I'm enjoying the superhero murder/rape mystery of the DC universe? If you don't recall, check the archives if you want.

Anyway, last month a lot was revealed within the pages of #6. Including vital clues as to who the killer is. I couldn't believe who the clues point to, so I'm not going to until I read the last issue, which comes out today. After I read it, expect a review of the full mini-series. But for now, I have to say that I didn't really believe the hype that the title brought with it beforehand, but I was curious so I picked up the first issue when it came out.

This title deserves the hype. I've never anticipated the release of the next issue so much. Never.

Which leads me to discuss something I realized lately. I grew up a Marvel comics reader, thanks largely to the X-Men cartoon of the 90s. It wasn't my favorite cartoon, that title went to Batman: The Animated Series. But the X-Men were easier to jump into comic-wise. Ocasionally though, I'd pick up a DC title like Superman or Batman.

When I jumped back into the world of comics after a 5-year hiatus, I still tended to collect more Marvel titles than DC. But that was when Bill Jemas was the president of Marvel, when the comics were evolving outside of the norms. Nowadays, Marvel's comics are backtracking to the 90s and worse, now that Bill Jemas is gone. That means 20 X-Men spandex titles where 15 of them star Wolverine, sub-par storylines from usually good writers, and resurrections of dead heroes and villains galore.

Meanwhile, DC has been enlisting top-notch talent from novelists and artists all around the world. They revamped the Batman and Superman titles, made Wonder Woman interesting again, and remember that Green Lantern title I was concerned about? It's great. Even Aquaman is fun to read. DC has also been tackling some tough but important issues lately: Green Arrow's sidekick has AIDS, John Walsh from America's Most Wanted helps the Outsiders put an end to a child slavery/sex ring, and Green Lantern's friend is brutally beaten because he's gay. Oh, and Identity Crisis.

The point of this rant is, I now collect more DC titles than Marvel titles. Sure, I don't collect a lot of comics for budgetary reasons, but of those I do collect, DC is the majority. Sure, Marvel may have all the fancy movies and milkshakes, but DC has it right where it counts the most: COMICS.

Word is there's another big event planned for DC next year called DC Countdown. 80 pages from the best talents in the bizz, all for a dollar. It must be crucial reading for that deal, and if Identity Crisis and Green Lantern taught me anything, it's believe the hype for anything DC.

DC Countdown. How cool is that cover? 

Identity Crisis #7 Cover 

Washington Cathedral

As promised, I'm going to talk about the Washington Cathedral. But I can't talk about it too much because I feel I lack the vocabulary neccesary to describe it.

I went there not really enthused enough about it to care. I didn't care until I started walking up to it. The place is huge. The main portal to the west is decorated with a breathtaking sculpture above it. Even higher above the doors is a circular rose window, composed of over ten thousand pieces of stained glass. Walking inside, you know for sure you're not in an ordinary building. The place is filled with such grandeur, elements that make anything else in Washington DC look plain. Many more stained glass windows surround the cathedral, depicting certain stories, both religious and not. Looking up at the ceiling, you can see the vaulting that supports the roof, conected with boss stones with detailed carvings on them too, each one weighing three to four tons. Moving to the transept, two more rose windows can be seen to the north and the south. Sculptures can be seen in all directions, decorating the many different chapels within the cathedral. Up into the towers you can see a great view of DC, as well as learn some history of the building of the cathedral. Moving outside again, you can see the buttresses which not only support the structure, but add beauty to it as well. Gargoyles and grotesques "guard" the cathedral from the evils of rain water.

Words can not describe the magnificence I witnessed. I regretted not bringing a camera, but realized that pictures can't do the thing justice either. You have to see it for yourself. I'm not a religious guy at all. Far from it. But I know greatness when I see it. This cathedral is unique also because it was built within the last hundred years. It has modern touches, like the stained glass window depicting the moon landings and wars America fought, and the gargoyles that wear gas masks.

And yes, there is a grotesque of Darth Vader on one of the towers. I used binoculars to find it.

By the Way: I'm listening to the themes from Metal Gear Solids 2 and 3 as I type this. DAMN that's a good score.

Metal Gear Solid 3

I've mentioned before that I bought Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, but I just finished it a few days ago and I didn't want to write a review for it before I completed the game. But lemme tell you, after a year of overhyped video game sequels with dissappointing attributes (with the exception of Ace Combat 5 of course), it's good to finally play one that is nothing short of amazing.

The story takes place in 1964, a drastic departure from previous Metal Gear games. It follows special agent Snake on a sneaking mission in the Russian jungle. His mission is to retrieve a Soviet weapons scientist who defected to the US, but was given back to the Soviets as a bargaining chip during the Cuban Missile Crisis. That's all I'm going to say about the plot for now.

Everything about this game shines. The gameplay is familiar to regular fans of the Metal Gear Solid series, but with a few added abilities. First off, you are required to eat in order to keep up your stamina. Your stamina determines how quickly you heal, how long you can hold your breath underwater, among other things. And since you're in a jungle, that usually means hunting for food like frogs and, yes, snakes. When I first heard about this system I thought it would be annoying but it's not a hinderence at all. Sure, you have to eat, but not so much that you need to hunt for food the entire game. You can keep a lot of things handy, as long as it doesn't spoil, and if you use your tranquilizer gun, you can keep live creatures in a cage for maximum freshness! There's also a backpack system to keep your items so you don't have overflowing item menus. In addition, if you're wounded, you have to patch it up yourself. That's right, you can't just take a health pack and let it miraculously heal you. If you've been shot, you need to dig out the bullet, disinfect it, use styptic to stop the bleeding, sew it up, and apply a bandage. This adds levels to interactivity. There's also no radar, like in the previous games, which makes the game a lot more difficult. I was taken by surprise when I realized how much I relied on it before! The most unique addition to gameplay however has to be the camoflauge. You have to wear the right camoflauge depending on your surrounding environment in order to blend in, decreasing your chance of being seen by the enemy.

The graphics are REALLY good. It looks just as good as MGS2, if not better, and runs smoothly and fluidly. Everything is detailed, down to the blades of grass, which you'll be hiding in plenty of times so you might as well get used to them. The sounds and voice acting is superb as well.

Ahh, but we can't forget about the most worrisome aspect of the game, which made fans nervous to no end. The story. Many were not so happy with the story from MGS2, left confused and dissappointed after the hours they put into the game. I personally didn't find anything wrong with the story of MGS2, or playing as Raiden instead of Snake. After I got over a brief moment of "What the hell?!?" I found it quite enjoyable and respected the game designers for trying something new.

Well, there's nothing wrong with this story. It pulls you in from the start, because although you think you know what's going to happen, you really don't. It relates to stories in both the original Metal Gear Solid and MGS2, but you don't need to play the others to enjoy it. By the end of the game I was like, "Damn."

Oh, and the score? EXCELLENT. Harry Gregson-Williams is one hell of a composer.

This is a game you will not regret playing, believe me. Very polished, looks great, and pulls you in from the start with a big payoff. On Friday night I started up the game with the intention of playing for only a couple of hours, but I COULD NOT stop playing. I wanted to see it to the end, so I played unitl I finished it. By that time, I didn't realize what time it was, but it was 5 in the morning. I worked at 7. That Saturday of work was brutal, and I don't even remember most of it, but it was worth it.

Arguably the best Metal Gear game ever.

General Update, Crappy Title

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's been a long week. I pulled four all-nighters in a row, with about 12 hours of sleep between four days. Starbucks was my blood for that time.

Anyway, I haven't had much time to do anything other than what I had to, which constitutes work, school, and hygiene. A little bit of Army business in there too. I would complain more about the four papers I had to do for school and the laughable guidelines that my Sociology teacher set for one of those papers that shouldn't have existed in the first place, but I talked to someone who has even more to put up with than me. Although one could argue that she's the dumboid who put herself in that position anyway. I will say that I know I'm in trouble when I start putting jokes and/or wit in my paper. Before printing said paper, I had to perform a spell check and a wit check. Instructors usually frown upon humor in a paper, except for that one time: "When life gives your columns, you make colonnade!" Oh the genius that oozes from that joke...

Next weekend is my next drill date, but this time there's a Class A inspection. In other words for the civilians, I have to wear my dress uniform, the one seen at high-school reunions or fancy dinner parties or courtroom scenes on JAG. This month I had to update the patches and ribbons, for I still had the patch from last year's deployment. I also found out that I couldn't wear some of the ribbons I deserve to wear, solely because my unit never filled out the appropriate paperwork...after a year. This is normal for the military, to be a few steps behind. People keep asking me if I'm going to be deployed again, and I keep giving the same answer: "It's only a matter of time."

I also went to Washington Cathedral yesterday, but I'll share more about that later. Out.

A picture from one of Solomon Asch's famous conformity experiments. Also the same expression I had to the Sociology paper requirements given to us AFTER the assignment was due.