Fallout 3 DLC

Seeing as I haven't written about video game nerdom at length in awhile (prior to my Fallout 3 postings), I figure it's worth reminding you that "DLC" stands for "DownLoadable Content," the type of game add-ons that you can buy from the Xbox store to augment your game AFTER the full game has come out. In the case of Fallout 3 though, I was given the Game Of The Year edition, which came bundled with all five DLC expansions offered for the game in 2009, so technically I didn't download them, even though that's how they were originally acquired.

Anyway, I'm going to talk about the Fallout DLC in the order in which I played them, not in which they were released, but it's good to note that I saved almost all of them for the end of my playing experience, as I wanted to get a good feeling for how the game would have felt before they were released. In a sense, this is kinda impossible, as the expansion "Broken Steel" was more than just a few more quests, raising the level cap from 20 to 30, changing the way the game ends (it no longer ends when you finish the main questline), and offering new upgrades in addition to new quests, but you get the point. Here are the expansions:

Operation: Anchorage: Easily the worst of the expansions, this one is actually a military training simulation that takes place just before the apocalypse during the war with the Chinese in Alaska. As such, you can't bring in any of your equipment, and you can't leave until it's over, so it was kinda a pain in the ass. And although it lets you train to wear Power Armor early, I didn't need that, and the special weapons you get at the end of the quest aren't all that special. Oh well.

Point Lookout: Taking place on an entirely new map outside the D.C. area, this expansion features lots of new ground to explore with plenty of new weapons, characters, and enemies to deal with. You're not technically stuck on Point Lookout once you get there, but the trip to/from costs money, so it's not something you want to do often. Pretty decent expansion, though graphically it feels a bit sub-par.

Mothership Zeta: Taking place on an alien spacecraft onto which you get beamed when you find an alien crash site, this is another package that forces you to finish its quests before returning to the rest of the world. Pair this with overly repetitive enemy encounters in a long mission and you've got a low-scoring expansion. The unique weapons you get are pretty cool, and it's neat being somewhere other than the Wasteland, but still...

Broken Steel: In my opinion, this is easily the best of the expansions, possibly without the increased level cap and extra perks. Seeing as it continues the main storyline, for the most part it doesn't force you to finish its quests in one go. Plus the storyline is interesting, and there are some decent unique weapons to be found. The biggest gripe is that you can't access any of this DLC without finishing the main questline, but that's not so bad.

The Pitt: Taking place in a slave compound in what used to be Pittsburgh, "The Pitt" offers the best storyline and most-interesting new environment of the available DLC, and as such, I might even put it above the game-changing "Broken Steel." Sure, you ARE stuck in The Pitt once you get there, but you hardly notice, as you're stripped of all your belongings for most of the game and are forced to live the life of a slave until you break free, meaning you get to find all sorts of new weapons/armor along the way. Definitely cool stuff.

Overall, while Fallout 3's DLC did make the game experience last WAY longer than perhaps it should have, even with a raised level cap, most of the expansions were pretty good, so I don't regret playing them at all. I wish some were shorter and/or didn't force you to finish them before moving on, but each complemented the rest of the game pretty well, so definitely check them out if you get a chance.

The Fountain

For one reason or the other, ever since it came to theatres in 2006, I had been under the impression that Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain had some connection with Ayn Rand's famous book The Fountainhead, so I carefully stored it away in my memory for a rainy day, expecting it to be a really amazing film. Naturally, it has NOTHING to do with Ayn Rand's book with a similar title, but that didn't stop me from finally checking it out on streaming Netflix...

And, it's not great, but it wasn't the worst way to spend a couple hours watching a movie. The story is this convoluted history-spanning tale of a man (played by Hugh Jackman) trying to discover the source of eternal life via the proverbial Fountain of Youth, not through the use of time traveling, but by a metaphysical novel within the story written by the man's dying wife. The cinematography IS pretty solid in the film, but I found the story a little too metaphysical and sappy for my tastes. I guess I expected more of Aronofsky's acclaimed directorial skills and taste: amongst his five films thus far, the only one to ever dip below an aggregate critical score of 86% was The Fountain at a shocking 51%. I don't think it was really THAT bad, but I wouldn't really recommend it either. Let's just hope Netflix starts offering any of his remaining four stellar films soon!

500 Songs For Kids 2011

There are few things in town that I've been both really excited to do and yet can't seem to be able to make it out for when they come around every year, but one of those things for the past few years was the annual 500 Songs For Kids concert series at Smith's Olde Bar, held every Spring over the course of 10 nights. To raise money for their specific music-based kids charity, the foundation picks 500 well-known songs and assigns each to one of 500 bands that apply to play every year, thereby having fifty songs per each of the ten nights. While this might seem like a logistical nightmare as far as gear is concerned, the event provides most of the gear (including amps, a drum set, and even a keyboard), thereby reducing any significant set changes between songs/bands.

Anyway, seeing as I hadn't made it out in the past few years to catch 500 Songs, I made a point of it this year, going on a random night when I was free, and bringing along my buddy Ryan. Unfortunately, we either caught it on a sub-par night, or the whole event is kinda crappy, as most of the bands were pretty horrible, and their covers often felt poorly prepared. Also, the theme this year was "Feel Good Songs," and as you can imagine, that didn't necessarily yield the best playlist.

Yet, despite the lack of talent/inspiration onstage most of the evening, there were some notable standouts. I can't remember all of the bands/songs-covered, so I'll just list what I can. There was a band called Gun Party that stood out, though I can't remember what they played; there was a gothy band that did an interesting mash-up of "Imagine" (I think); Stellate did a pretty solid job with what they covered, and their guitarist was really nice; and this guy named Ruben Videz (or something like that) did a pretty solid rendition of some Queen songs, though his group was just a one-shot thing for the show.

Easily the biggest highlights were seeing this band called The Vaginas do the best cover of the evening (though, once again, I can't remember what it was), and chatting with this older guy named Clark who's a semi-retired freelance sports writer for the AJC and who had a wicked sense of humor. So, the night wasn't a total bust, but I'm definitely thinking twice about going next year, especially on a random night. Everyone says the Saturday night finale is definitely the best time to go, so maybe I'll shoot for that next time?

Chilly Gonzales - Ivory Tower

As the last of the five albums I received for Christmas from my parents, Chilly Gonzales' largely-instrumental, piano-driven Ivory Tower was saved for last, mainly because I no longer get quite so excited about instrumental albums, despite having asked for this one in particular. I knew going in that this album really was a bit more than just an instrumental album, as Chilly does his nerdy old-guy rapping on four songs, with true singing-singing on one track and some oohs and ahs on a couple more, lending the album something familiar to take off some of the cerebral edge. Furthermore, though I didn't discover this until I actually started listening to the album (via the liner notes), popular German indie DJ Boys Noize collaborated on a number (if not all) of the tracks here, mostly for a subtle effect but with the occasional trademark nasty Boys Noize bassline thrown in for good measure.

Anyway, the album has its low points, but these are generally outweighed by the quality of instrumental work on offer and the freshness of the material in general...I mean, piano-driven electro-pop nerd-rap by a 40-yeard-old white guy isn't that typical, even in indie circles, you know? And hey, Chilly is in the Guinness Book of Records for longest nonstop piano performance (or something like that), and he did a piano improv duel with none other than Andrew W.K., so what's not to like? His lyrics are clever, the music definitely has its own soundworld in the popular music genre, and the Boys Noize collaboration is pretty great, so check this out if it interests you.

Highlights: "Knight Moves"/"Crying"/"Never Stop (Rap Version)"
Rating: 2/5

G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra

Having heard that this film wasn't a total bust, and seeing as I was in the mood for a superficial action flick available on Netflix, I decided to go ahead and check out G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra. I knew going in that one of the biggest letdowns for fans of the toys/TV show/comics was that most of the characters (especially the good guys) were stripped of their unique costumes, which were part of the fun of the series, instead going the X-Men films' route by having them all wear the same nondescript black spec-ops military outfit, so this didn't end up bothering me all that much, having been prepared for it.

Overall, though it is a stupid action flick without much depth, I actually kinda liked The Rise Of Cobra and am looking forward to the sequel that's going to build on the setup for the real Cobra (fronted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Cobra Commander and his now-lackey Destro) following some pivotal events at the end of the film (as such, this installment was more of a prequel of sorts). In the end, I had a better time watching the film than I had expected, so it left a good impression. I wouldn't recommend you rush to go see it, but I won't blame you for liking it... ;)

Calm White Noise @ 529

One night a couple months ago, Spangler invited me out kinda last minute to see one of his friend's bands play a show at 529, so considering it was right around the corner and I hadn't gotten much of a chance to hang with Spangler in awhile, I figured I'd check it out. Of particular interest was that Spangler's friend in the band was a drummer he was thinking about having replace him in our group once he left for Army band, but I had already heard the drummer had declined the offer before going to the show, so I was mainly just going out of curiosity.

The name of the band was Calm White Noise, but I can't seem to pull up a MySpace page for the group, so here's a couple tracks from their SoundCloud account. Unfortunately, I can't remember too many details about the show, but I do recall thinking they were pretty cool, having a bit of a electronic tinge to their sound. And Spangler's drummer friend was good. Spangler ended up having to take off soon after their show, so although I stayed around for a minute longer to see the next group (Life At Sea), I don't think I got enough of an impression to write about.

I really need to catch up on my blogging so I don't forget details about the shows I see like this!

16th Band-Recruiting Rehearsal

So now that I've caught you up on the state of the band concerning looking for a guitarist instead of a drummer, I can move on to our two most recent guitar auditions, beginning with my coworker at Music & Arts, Chad. Of the people that work at the store, I would say Chad and I have the most in common, and though we don't often have a lot of time to talk, he did eventually invite me out to one of his band Sorry No Ferrari's shows, which I've already written positively about. At that show, Chad and I began talking about me possibly adding vocals to the group, but after tossing the idea around for awhile, I ended up opting out due to wanting to commit more fully to my own band. That said, Chad said that if we were still looking for a guitarist he would be willing to take a shot at the material and see if it's a fit.

So, we quickly figured out a time for Chad, Jeremy, and me to meet at Jeremy's, with Jeremy playing drums for us for the first time in a long time. Chad had worked out most of "Still Life" and "Pat Benatar," and it showed, as he not only nailed the parts (even the solos Jeremy had recorded) but also added a number of new things that really took the songs to the next level, right there on the spot. Jeremy and I were pretty impressed, to say the least, and we were hopeful that Chad would want to play for us, but we sensed that he might not be feeling the material enough to commit to the band, and after giving him a week to think about it, our suspicions were confirmed when Chad respectfully declined our invitation to have him join the band.

Thus, while our first audition could have been our last, it wasn't meant to be, so we've continued looking for a suitable fit since, hitting a lot of dead ends that never ended up turning into an actual audition, plus a Craigslist reply that does have some potential (more on this later). Anyway, though things didn't work out with Chad, it was definitely encouraging to see that there might be a really good fit (or two) out there for us, but Chad set that bar pretty high now, so hopefully we'll get lucky with someone like him again!

Fallout 3 vs. Oblivion

Onto another post on Fallout 3, a game big enough that it really deserves multiple posts. That said, it's time to compare the game to another epic 1st-person RPG made by Bethesda Softworks, the fantasy-themed Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which was released in 2006 and won tons of acclaim at the time, leading me to playing it pretty thoroughly back in 2009. Which brings us to our first comparison between the two games: though I did pour A LOT of time into Oblivion, I didn't write multiple posts about it... Why the difference? Oblivion featured an even bigger world with far less of a cohesive storyline/environment tying the whole thing together, and as such, I eventually got frustrated with it taking too long to do everything, so I quit. Sure, I picked it up a couple more times, but I still can't say I've gotten far enough to consider any element of the game complete, despite having played enough of it to have a valid opinion. By contrast, Fallout 3 is just small enough to be manageable, and though it did end up being a grind once I hit the level cap, it was still enjoyable to the end.

To save a little space here, there are TONS of other improvements from Fallout to Oblivion, a lot of which I assume can be attributed to the fact that the developer had over two years of gained experience when making Fallout, but beyond this, I would say it was the clever streamlining of time-consuming experiences and intentional restrictions put on the latter game, all of which allowed the player to dwell more on the environment/story, that made the biggest difference. This applies to everything from combat, leveling-up, and stats, to little things like repairing your weapons, their variety, and the limited options for object creation.

The only edge I could really see Oblivion having over Fallout is in the beauty of its world (which isn't a radiated, burnt wasteland!), but that has less to do with the graphics implementation and more with the setting. And of course, if you prefer fantasy stuff to modern/sci-fi shooters, then there's that, but I definitely like guns better than swords, so this was a perfect match for me. Oh, and once again, Fallout 3's story really is that much better than Oblivion's, even managing to work in a healthy stream of humor to keep things moving.

So, the real question is whether Bethesda will take their upcoming Elder Scrolls installment Skyrim (due in November) in the same direction as its predecessor or try to incorporate some of the (very appreciated) streamlining found in Fallout 3. Hell, even if they just made the world 25% smaller, that might be enough to grab me. I'll probably still wait past the critical reviews and DLC for a cheaper Game Of The Year edition, so it's no sweat off my back if it doesn't capture my attention right away.

Guitar Recruiting

I'd be lying if I said I'm not currently feeling a bit defeated about the band member search, but since I've got a lot to say and haven't even updated you with our two most-recent auditions (both for guitar), I'm going to split the subject up into a series of posts. So, here we go...

First off: yes, I said "guitar," despite the fact that for the past eternity I've been looking for a drummer. As you know, Spangler, our most-promising drumming candidate to-date, has been set to leave us for the Army Band almost since he started with us early this year, and though I initially tried to push the band to getting a couple shows rolling before he left, using his enthusiasm as momentum to finally get things off the ground, I soon realized this was never going to really materialize, mainly due to bad timing outside of Spangler's already-pressing timeline. Jeremy was set to get married in mid-May and then switch to a 9-to-5 job, Doug was still busy as hell with his restaurant, and Spangler had distractions in the form of Army training and having to move out of Adam & Sandra's prematurely.

So, since our back-up plan of trying to get one of Spangler's drummer friends to step in for him fell through, Jeremy started tossing around the idea of having him trade his guitar-playing responsibilities for drums, in effect finally giving us a drummer who knew our parts and style while also being able to commit for the foreseeable future. After all, he WAS the person who wrote and recorded our current studio demo recordings' drum parts, and he probably knows the music better than anyone other than me, but of course, this did leave us without a guitarist.

That said, finding people who're interested in checking out the possibility of auditioning with us on guitar is A LOT easier than on drums, and thus far we've already had a handful of bites, though none of them have come to fruition as of yet. As I said, I'm going to continue the subject in another post or two, so keep an eye out for those. In the mean time, wish us luck with our search...I'm kinda losing steam and really need something to work out soon!

Riot Migraine?

Though I've essentially summarized all of the recording Erich and I have done lately at Riot in one big post, I have saved one particular thing about our last session for a chronologically-accurate entry: that of what appeared to be a moderate migraine that came over me that night while working at the computer in the studio. All my life, I've always feared migraines, but seeing as I never once had them growing up (or until now, for that matter), I eventually got to the point where I assumed I never would have one. That said, I'm not 100% sure what I had at Riot WAS a migraine, but based off the description of symptoms I read online, it seems like a very likely candidate.

Basically, in the course of a minute or two, I went from feeling totally fine to having very noticeable photosensitivity, mild nausea, a throbbing around one of my eyes, and a general feeling of "what the hell is happening to me?" At first, I just thought it was the computer's fault, as it suddenly became hard to look at, so I spent a minute or two trying to adjust the display settings, but when this didn't work and the other symptoms set in, I knew something was up...

In the end, I just had to lay on the couch and chill out while Erich finished up at the studio, then I drove home and crashed, as I was pretty worthless for the rest of the night. But, by the morning, I was fine, and none of these symptoms have returned since. So, I'm not really sure that it was a migraine, but it seems likely enough, right? It does seem weird that I would randomly have only one of them, and at that, this late in life, but I guess that would be weird regardless of what we're calling it.

Oh well...let's just hope it doesn't become a regular thing and that that was the end of it!

The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

Occasionally I end up taking interest in a band by first hearing a remix of one of their songs, and such was the case with the Welsh band The Joy Formidable and GROUPLOVE's fantastic remix of their track "I Don't Want To See You Like This." Once I finally checked out the band's CD on iTunes, I was really set to love this album...I mean, it's a modern indie band that somehow manages to blend in early-Smashing Pumpkins-era grunge without sounding too derivative, all with a female singer who ROCKS OUT playing electric guitar as the band's only guitarist! Oh, and they occasionally manage to work in some awesome double bass pedal work that somehow doesn't clash with their indie vibe. What's not to love about all that?!?

Well, as befalls a number of albums with great potential, The Big Roar's handful of incredible songs (see below) can't outweigh the general mediocrity of the rest of the disc, especially those found on the back half. It's not that the band's style or performing abilities suck...far from it. Rather, the songwriting itself just isn't inspired enough to warrant a higher rating than a 2/5, even though I probably would have given it a four or five had the rest been like the better tracks. Still, I'm impressed with the direction the band's taking, so I really hope they take things to the next level with their follow-up album...

Highlights: "The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie"/"I Don't Want To See You Like This"/"Whirring"
Rating: 2/5

New Orleans Anniversary w/Suzi

Seems like this happened too long ago for me to only be reporting now, but I guess I'm still about two months behind, so fleh fleh. As I mentioned while I was actually in New Orleans, the whole trip was a surprise getaway for our one-year anniversary...yes, Suzi knew we were flying somewhere, but she didn't know where until we were at the gate for our flight, which was pretty exciting. And yes, she was excited about New Orleans, as it's her favorite city in the States and she had mentioned wanting to go with me on more than one occasion.

To be honest though, it took me a little while to get over my negative impressions made back when I had my passport trip in Fall '09, but once I got to see some of the parts of the city outside the touristy stuff, and once we got to spend some time in the French Quarter at night (which I had never done before), I warmed up to the city a lot more. In fact, when I think back on it now, my first thoughts are of the high-rise-filled Central Business District (where our hotel was), as downtown areas like this are often my favorite parts of cities, even though we didn't spend too much time there. I guess I just had to find a new perspective from which to appreciate the city, even if it's not its most distinct area. Anyway, here are the Facebook albums:

New Orleans Trip w/Suzi (Part I)
New Orleans Trip w/Suzi (Part II)

The highlights of the trip were definitely the above-ground cemetery, our night at Harrah's (and the nice dinner before it), the college area/Audubon Park, the voodoo temple (not pictured, unfortunately), Pat O'Brien's, and finally seeing Bourbon street when it's thriving, especially at night. Overall, it was a good trip, and of course our anniversary made it particularly special. In the end, it really just made me hungry to have even more trips with Suzi, exploring cities at least one of us doesn't know too much about and taking lots of pictures to cement those experiences in our memories. That said, the Seattle trip for Evan's wedding is coming up in a couple weeks, so I guess we won't have too long to wait!

mc chris Mash-Up 2

As you may recall, back at the end of 2010 I began working on a set of mc chris mash-ups to give Suzi for Christmas, but I had bitten off way more than I could finish in the allotted 2-3 weeks I gave myself, and I ended up having to settle on just giving her one (albeit very well done) mash-up track, saving the rest of my preliminary work for completion at a later time. Well, that later turned out to be four months due to a number of factors including (but not limited to): band stuff picking up with the addition of Spangler, getting depressed about finances, HiFi reviews, a lack of a hard deadline, and (most importantly) the increased complexity of the track I chose to do when compared with that of the first. But, by the time mid-April rolled around, most of these distractions had subsided at least a little, so I decided to create a deadline in the form of our one-year anniversary, finishing the track just in time to give it Suzi right before we left for New Orleans the next day.

Once again, I'm not going to tell you what I mixed with what until I've finished the entire album and given it to the little mc himself, but I can tell you that the theme I went with this time around called for WAY more outside tracks than the first time (roughly four times as many!), a significantly longer tracklength, and segues that needed to be much more carefully orchestrated in order to present a coherent musical thought, hence much of the delay. As such, I let the track simmer for a long time: I didn't just procrastinate a lot and then decide to start it up and finish it in a couple days...it really did take a long time! (Though I'm sure I could have finished it sooner if I had been able to prioritize it more).

In the end, I'm extremely proud of how the track came out, especially since it sounds VERY different from the first. And, I'm pretty sure Suzi loved it too, which of course is the main criterion for how well I did. =) And yes, I do think the track was a surprise for her, as it was probably starting to seem like she might never get that promised second track... Fortunately though, the next track will require significantly less work, as it's more straightforward and will have fewer outside tracks to work with (then again, I say that now...). I HAVE begun work on it, having picked most of the tracks, beat-aligned everything, and divided the originals into their appropriate formal sections, but there's much more work to do. It's almost been two months since the last one...let's hope I don't push it to four again this time!

Albums I've Taught

Over the course of the past few years of teaching music lessons, I've managed to go through a healthy amount of rock albums' piano/guitar transcription books, so I figured I'd take a minute to make a list of the ones I can remember, looking back at my student roster since Fall '07. On that note, it should be said that there are plenty of students I've taught who either haven't yet gotten far enough in their studies to be ready to move on to full songs or who have, but are playing out of a compilation book, which I won't really count here (this includes the Rock Band and Guitar Hero collections). So here's the list, as best I can recall.

The All-American Rejects - Move Along
Blink 182 - Blink 182
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
Five For Fighting - Two Lights
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
Jason Mraz - We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
The Killers - Day & Age
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
Paramore - Riot
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
311 - Soundsystem

I believe that's everything, though we didn't necessarily play everything in all of the books above (generally speaking though, we hit more of them than not). Most of selections were for my guitar lessons, but some of my more advanced pianists have moved on to reading pop books, though it's often hard to find piano books for a lot of the bands people are into, as guitar books are usually much more common (and that's assuming the book even exists in the first place). While some of the books were suggested by me, some were entirely the student's idea, but I've enjoyed getting to know all of them regardless, and I'm looking forward to plenty more in the future.

Win Win

Here's yet another indie movie featuring Paul Giamatti that Suzi and I went to check out with high hopes, but once again, like Cyrus and Greenberg before it, though the film wasn't bad, it failed to really live up to our expectations. This time, the story is that Paul Giamatti is a burdened-by-life middle-aged lawyer, high-school wrestling coach, and father who ends up making a shady agreement in court to take care of a senile old man whom he knows he can take financial advantage of in this state, but in the process, he ends up getting an unbelievably good wrestler to add to his team in the form of the old man's estranged grandson. As you can imagine, things eventually unravel, and drama ensues.

All of the individual elements in the film are fine in-and-of themselves, but the sum of the parts lacks enough punch to really make a dramatic impact, and as such, it's really just another okay art film. Easily the highlight of the whole movie though was the surprisingly convincing performance by young actor Alex Shaffer in the role of the young wrestler/old man's grandson Kyle, and it turns out that he actually knows how to wrestle in real lie too, which is kinda unexpected and awesome.

Again, the movie isn't anything amazing, but if you love Paul Giamatti, it's better than Cold Souls (another film I recently reviewed), and I wouldn't discourage you from seeing either, so check it out.

Fallout 3 (Overview)

It's the end of an era, folks. Never, at least barring my Mass Effect obsession back in Fall of 2008, have I ever been as engrossed in a single playthrough of a video game like I've recently been with Fallout 3, and as such, I'm proud (and relieved) to report that I have now finished the game and am ready to put it down to move onto other things. I think my clocked play time (the game keeps track, not me) for just one, albeit VERY complete, playthrough was just over 220 hours (and that's all a single player experience!), but although I hit the level cap of 30 roughly halfway through, the game still managed to be amazing throughout. Sure, the cap did put a little bit of a damper on things, especially before I started discovering a ton of new weapons via the DLC additions, but nevertheless my appreciation of the game hasn't been marred, and as such, this game now rivals the previously-unfuckwithable Mass Effect for my favorite video gaming experience of all time.

If you don't know, Fallout 3 is a first-person shooter RPG set in a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. about 250 years in the future (though it manages to resemble 1950's America MUCH more), and you play a character straight out of a bunker who is trying to find his father (played by Liam Neeson) and in the process ends up getting tied up in a bunch of violence, shady deals, and political machinations. Like my favorite games BioShock and Mass Effect, the game adapts to the morality of your choices/actions, and as such, it totally deserves to be played through at least twice, once as a hero and once as a badass, though not every playthrough has to be as long as the one I chose. While the main storyline could easily be accomplished in 20-30 hours, the world is huge, and there are tons of quests to undertake, even without the extensive DLC. So basically, the player can choose how long of an experience they really want to tackle, but since I wanted to see as much as possible, I only stopped once I had discovered every location on the map and had completed every quest, including the DLC, but I didn't allow myself to use any online guides to help me find EVERY weapon or upgrade in the game, as I wanted to see how much of it I would naturally find on my own.

So, when I do eventually let myself play the game again, I'm probably going to attempt a main storyline-only playthrough, playing as efficiently as possible, saving a larger all bad-ass run for when the game has grown a bit fresher again. This past time, I chose to go with a good guy playthrough, as I often worry that just running around shooting everyone ends up resulting in a number of closed doors when contrasted with the path of diplomacy. Anyway, seeing as this post is already really long, I'm going to devote a few more posts to Fallout over the course of the next week or so, including a comparison to Oblivion and one entirely on the DLC. For the meantime, just suffice it to say that I absolutely LOVED the hell out of Fallout 3, and though I'm glad I'm done playing it, the time spent was well worth it. Definitely go play it sometime if it sounds AT ALL interesting to you.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

While I HAD more or less seen the entirety of the third installment of the Mad Max trilogy (Beyond Thunderdome) via bits and pieces on TV growing up, it wasn't until recently that I actually sat down to watch the whole thing straight through in one sitting. And, I have to say, it was still as enjoyable as I had remembered from my youth, which isn't always the case with guilty pleasure movies like this. If you don't know, the Mad Max series is set in a post-apocalyptic Australia, inhabited by roving raiders, guns-for-hire, and tribal types, with Mel Gibson's Mad Max being a sort of lone ranger amidst the disarray. Now, while I haven't seen either of the original two films, Beyond Thunderdome does a good job of introducing you to the characters, and honestly, knowing the basic gist of the post-apocalyptic genre in general, it wasn't all that hard anyway.

Now, while no one likes Mel Gibson anymore, he really was pretty cool back then, and he clearly would have been the star of the show had it not been for Tina Turner's AWESOME job portraying the corrupt leader of the raiders, and therefore, Max's big opposition for the film. Who would've known she'd be a decent actress and a kickass villain?!? Also, the pig manure energy factory-running Master Blaster duo is quite awesome, as well as Tina Turner's right-hand-man Ironbar. Easily one of the bigger sources of interest for me this time around was noticing all the little things the film probably introduced that was eventually used as inspiration Fallout 3, the very-similarly post-apocalyptic Xbox game that I've been obsessing over for the past few months.

Overall, the film was quite enjoyable and was certainly a solid entry in the genre. Sure, it's a tad goofy at times, but it walks that fine line quite well and as such, has certainly inspired me to eventually go back and watch the original two films. That said, I'm a little wary of the reportedly-upcoming fourth installment in the franchise, but who knows...maybe it could be good?

Sealions - Strange Veins

I don't often make local indie bands' first releases my CD of the week, partly because albums good enough to feature are few and far between, and partly out of fear that I'll end up having to give them a shitty score, which not only somewhat hurts their career (even if only a little), but more importantly, hurts their feelings, as they're often my friends. So, I have to be pretty sure local bands' non-major-label independent releases can play with the big boys before committing to including them in my 48 albums for the year.

Anyway, such was the case with Atlanta's Sealions and their recent album Strange Veins, which I picked up while seeing them with Spangler at The Earl a few months ago. As you may recall, the Sealions quickly became one of my favorite bands in town with their stellar performance as an opening act for Metric back in late 2010, so I wanted to check out their recorded work. Overall, Strange Veins has a consistently dark 80's New Wave vibe, complete with plenty of synthy pads, guitar interjections, and pensive lyrics. While a few tracks on the album are certainly of the more up-tempo, dancey variety, most of what's here is more subdued and moody, which fits the band's vibe well. The vocals are all really solid (though I've had a hard time figuring out which of the two singers in the band is featured on any given track), and the production sounds really clear and professional. Not sure where they recorded (if not at home), but it sounds good.

If there were one constructive criticism I'd have for the band in thinking about their next album, I would push for more variety in terms of mood, style, and synthesizer textures, but they're most certainly on the right track. So, while my final score might not be as high as the band might think they deserve, it should again be said that this is in comparison with a list of mostly major-label releases by extremely seasoned nationally-touring acts, so it's no slight to say that Sealions are starting out with a 3/5, knowing full well that they've got plenty more releases ahead of them. Good work, guys.

Highlights: "Bellwether"/"Golden"/"Indian Summer"
Rating: 3*/5

Killer At Large

Here's another Netflix-found movie I've watched recently, this time a documentary about the obesity issue in America, a subject I find very important, especially since America is the most obese country in the world, which really is shameful, but whatever.

Yes, the topic was interesting to me, and the material presented in the film seemed legit enough (with decent arguments being made), but the film itself was poorly-made, definitely in need of some more skilled filmmakers. Even the video quality was sub-par, which is really a bit inexcusable in this age of many professional-looking documentaries, especially if the people behind Killer At Large want to be taken seriously. But, the film did manage to get me riled up about the issue, so I guess it succeeded at being effective in that way at least...

Nathan Barnatt

A month or two ago, I wrote about my favorite gaming website, GameTrailers, and broke down a few of my favorite video features they offer, but I made sure to hint at an upcoming post on one of their featured comedians, Nathan Barnatt, and his series Talking Classics. Barnatt is one of those comedians like Sacha Baron Cohen who plays a number of recurring goofy character roles, often mixing scripted bits with honest real-world interactions, and the character I first became acquainted with was Talking Classics' somewhat-irritating, somewhat-lovable gaming nerd, Keith Apicary. For instance, in this episode, Keith (actually) goes to Russia in search of a hard copy of Tetris, with his trademark goofiness ensuing. To be honest, while I do enjoy Talking Classics, it's not my favorite of Nathan's work.

Rather, I prefer one of his other characters, the ridiculous candy TV salesman Trale Lewous, seen in the actual Skittles (pronounced here, "Skit-telles") commercial above, which Barnatt got to do by winning an online home-video commercial competition Skittles was hosting. The video is easily my favorite of his work, as it's well-produced, memorable, and even randomly features a phrase in Suzese (essentially a set of words Suzi made up for inside-joke conversation): "one money." Other cool videos include his recent official video for the new Yelle song "Que Veux Tu", where he goofily apes the Tecktonik dancing made famous in another one of Yelle's other videos, and his bit as chef Leroy Truman on The Gong Show, which I gather helped launch his career.

Anyway, I've enjoyed watching a number of Nathan's videos on YouTube, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next, so I thought I'd share. Here's hoping he gets a decent movie role sometime soon...

Dirty Filthy Love (Movie)

Here's another one of those movies I ended up committing to after finding it on Netflix simply by reading the synopsis, and I'm starting to think this might not be such a good method for finding new movies in the future, as Michael Sheen's Dirty Filthy Love wasn't so fantastic. [Note: I've only given you a link to the trailer, as I couldn't find an embeddable version that didn't autoplay.] It's basically about a super-OCD British guy losing his shit (and his wife) as his condition gets way worse really quickly, and his ensuing struggle to make peace with it by attempting to get over his wife and make new friendships. If this sounds dumb, that's because it is, but somehow the Netflix synopsis made it sound a lot cooler. Oh, and the trailer (which I didn't watch ahead of time), makes the film look like it's a goofy comedy when it in fact actually alternates between being a tragedy and simply an annoyance.

See, though Michael Sheen is good in a number of his other roles, he's irritating as hell in this one, making a poor attempt at being a man with Tourette's. The actress who plays his new love interest, Shirley Henderson, is much better in her role, but it's not enough to save this film. Turns out (with a little more research) that this film was actually originally-intended for TV, and as such, I guess I can forgive it a little bit more (but not much). Bottom line: not all Sundance-approved films are good, so skip this one unless you've got a really good reason to check it out or are just a glutton for punishment.

Trip of the Year Nominations 2010

Well, back to my Top 5's for 2010 after a bit of a hiatus, this time with a new category: Trip of the Year. Long one here, so bear with me...

As you know, I'm very fond of traveling, and since Suzi is such a great travel partner, I did a large amount of it this past year. With the exception of some little trips to Athens, the first half of the year was pretty tripless, but once Suzi and I got started, we literally didn't stop until New Year's, when we returned from San Francisco minutes before the ball dropped. Anyway, here are the Top 5 trips of the year, listed in chronological order:

Baltimore (Andrew's wedding): Suzi and my first trip was easily one of the best, as it simultaneously proved how well we travel together exploring a fun part of the city, while featuring some great times with my best grad school friends at easily the best wedding I've ever been to. As such, Baltimore has been the standard by which all of my other trips were measured this year, and with good reason. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Miami (romantic getaway): Our second big trip was entirely planned in order for me to tell Suzi I love her, and it couldn't gone off much more perfectly. In addition to her enthusiastically reciprocating my profession of love, we got to see my old college for the first time since I transferred back in 2000, had a great time doing the South Beach thing while staying in our most stylish hotel room, and even got to hang out with my best friend from the NL, Bas van Schelt.

Philadelphia (Labor Day): Our third big trip was essentially a last-minute deal we found for getting out of town over Labor Day, knowing Suzi wouldn't have many more three-day weekends until Thanksgiving. As such, Philly ended up being a surprise hit, as it wasn't a city I had ever imagined loving but ended up having a blast exploring anyway. Plus, it was the last trip of the year we had with perfect weather, as it was about to get colder for Fall.

Houston (Dave visit): As the only trip I took this year without Suzi, my Houston (technically Huntsville) trip to see Dave in his temporary Texan teaching locale was definitely memorable. It had been ages since Dave and I had had any true one-on-one time to catch up, and it was totally worth it. The big highlight apart from catching up was definitely going to the NASA campus, and the food was generally pretty solid the whole trip.

San Francisco (Winter holidays): Our last trip of the year (down to the hour!) was our absolutely-incredible four night stay in San Francisco. Not only was our time there amazing and extremely positive (despite both of us being sick and the fact that we were wiped out every day by jetlag), but Suzi looked hotter than ever, the city once again proved to be my favorite in the States, and the pictures came out fantastic. Want to go back NOW.

So, a fantastic year of traveling. I left out our trips to Athens since I consider them to be only half-trips; our trip to Saint Augustine for the 4th of July since I was dealing with strep throat the whole time; our trip to Chattanooga because it just didn't stand up to the other experiences, despite being my favorite smaller-scale trip thus far; and our Thanksgiving stint in NYC, as the city and I didn't get along very well, though I expect it'll be better if we make it back during the warmer months.

Overall, I feel very fortunate to have had a year so full of fun trips like this and can only hope that I'll ever be lucky enough to have another just like it. Thanks to everyone who made the trips so amazing, especially Suzi. =)

Gangs Of New York

Now here's a Netflixed movie that I had already seen and still managed to absolutely love on my second viewing, years after originally seeing it. While I do like Martin Scorsese's The Departed quite a bit, Gangs Of New York has to be my favorite of his films I've seen, both for what the actors themselves brought to the table, and for Scorsese's hand in the whole thing. I still consider this film to be the first time I took Leonardo DiCaprio seriously, as he's fantastic in it, but there's no way he could've outshone the unbelievable Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher. Yeah, Cameron Diaz isn't so amazing in this one (relative to her costars), but I never take her seriously anyway (except perhaps in Vanilla Skye?), so this didn't bring anything down for me.

The biggest new experience I took away from seeing Gangs Of New York for a second time is that, in the interim between seeing it years ago and now, I've come to love and appreciate a number of the less-featured actors in the film, including John C. Reilly, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson (from In Bruges), and Jim Broadbent (from Moulin Rouge), all of whom really added to my experience this time around.

Ultimately, this is a fantastic movie, and as such, I would be proud to own it. I wish all of the films I watched again years later on Netflix could be this rewarding, but alas, that's what separates good art from a faddish guilty pleasure, I suppose.

Tetris Obsession

After what seemed like an unstoppable obsession with playing everything in Fallout 3, I ended up deciding to take a break, only to replace it with a much more soul-sucking obsession with Tetris Splash. When Suzi got me hooked on the game late last year, I had no idea that this shitty implementation of the Tetris franchise would end up being so addicting, but I guess that's just the everlasting appeal of the Tetris concept that fueled the flame.

So, I've been honing my Tetris skills as of late via a hard-to-stop case of the "just one more game"s, and as such, I've checked off a few more Xbox Achievements, even ones I had a feeling I would never end up checking off (things like getting eight combos in a row and winning on multiplayer, where the competition is fierce). More importantly (I suppose) is the type of goal-oriented gameplay I'm now restricting myself to...things like "No Singles Allowed", "Only Combos", "Only Tetrises", and "Only Tetris Combos", all of which have helped me improve my game against online opponents, though they still kick my ass most of the time.

Anyway, I seriously need to impose a no-Tetris-ban, as the game is really easy to get sucked into, which is bad both in the sense that it wastes a whole bunch of time AND it keeps me from experiencing new, non-endless gaming experiences (I still have Alan Wake, Rock Band 3, and Grand Theft Auto IV waiting to be tackled, none of which can start until I wrap up Fallout 3 (which is getting really close).

Ultimately, I think I might want to start rationing out the amount of time I'm going to allow myself with video games, and although I'm not quite as bad as that stereotypical online multiplayer first-person shooter fanatic (think Call of Duty), I could definitely use some more discipline in the gaming department.

Chaos Theory

Onto another random Netflix choice made simply because its cover and synopsis caught my eye when scrolling through different suggested films on my Xbox. This time it's Ryan Reynolds' comedy Chaos Theory, which tells the story of a married efficiency expert whose life gets thrown out of whack when his wife shifts his schedule by only a few minutes. Once things start going nuts, Reynolds' character decides to let all of his decisions be made by randomly selecting from a handful of options he's written on index cards, hence the chaos theory bit.

Ultimately, the film was another cute comedy, but there wasn't much more to it. The best part for me was seeing Ryan Reynolds playing a middle-aged version of himself as he narrates the story via a conversation he's having with his soon-to-be son-in-law at the beginning of the film. Apart from this, there's nothing really to recommend the film, but if you happen to catch it on TV or something, it wouldn't be a horrible option if nothing else is on...

Panic! At The Disco - Vices & Virtues

Seeing as I didn't get into their first major album until the end of 2008, I guess I jumped on the Panic! At The Disco bandwagon a little later than most fans, holding out for a long while in favor of groups like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance. Sure enough though, once I got into Panic! I was hooked, but then they released their curveball of a second release, complete with its quasi-Beatles-rip-off progressions/harmonies, and I never managed to muster the interest to actually go out and buy it, essentially writing the band off as a one-album pony, so to speak.

Enter 2011's Vices & Virtues, the result of a mutual split in band membership due to differing artistic direction between the singer/drummer and the guitarist/bassist, and what we end up receiving is a toned-down version (and slight evolution) of the first album's infectious emo-pop. This time around, lead singer Brendon Urie has taken on primary lyric-writing responsibilities, and though there are now far fewer of the previously more-clever lyrics this time around, the songs are all catchy enough to earn the band my top rating, especially considering there have been very few stellar albums this year thus far. So, while Vices & Virtues is certainly no A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, it's a decent offering, and I'm glad to see the band returning to their original sound. If the other two guys in the group actually end up starting another project, I'll definitely check it out, but I'm sure I'll have a hard time seeing it as an offshoot of Panic! without Brendan Urie at the helm, even if these guys were the ones originally writing lyrics...

Highlights: "Memories"/"Trade Mistakes"/"Ready To Go"
Rating: 5/5

Cold Souls

Suzi and I are both fans of the underdogly Paul Giamatti, so in looking for things to add to my instant queue on streaming Netflix, I thought the artsy-yet-SciFi-ish Cold Souls might make a good watch for a quiet night in. The story is that Paul Giamatti is playing a fictional version of himself that's in a serious acting rut and thus turns to an absurd soul-removal company he read about in some periodical, all to help him better manage his growing depression and lack of motivation. What ensues is a somewhat-funny journey to regain his soul, as his bottled essence is stolen to be used on the Russian black market. Think Being John Malkovich meets Russians...?

Interesting setup, but the movie failed to really add up to more than its parts for me. Giamatti is good, but not good enough to make me believe that he really lost his soul, or that it's really that dire that he regains it. Also, we never really get to know why he's so miserable in the first place, and so the small bit of resolution we do get at the end is hardly satisfying. Ultimately, a pretty forgettable movie, but I didn't hate it, so there's always that... Definitely no Being John Malkovich, so just stick with that if you like this kind of absurdist art film.

Greenville Trip w/Suzi

Although our first attempt at a trip to go visit my sister and brother-in-law at their home in Greenville, South Carolina got canceled due to weather and some other bad timing, our second attempt went through just fine, and we found ourselves enjoying a nice 24 or so hours eating out and touring in Greenville, plus a little going out time with J+R and a couple of Suzi's friends who happened to be in town. First off, here's our Facebook album:

Greenville Trip w/Suzi

Not too much to say about the trip past what the album can tell you, but the highlights definitely were seeing Jaclyn and Ryan in Greenville for the first time since Fall of 2009 (been way too long!), getting to meet and hangout with Suzi's friends Angela and Christopher, and for me, getting to show off my new blue blazer from Zara for the first time. Unfortunately, Suzi had a bit of a stomach bug hit her the second day, so I have a feeling that that might've put a bit of a damper on things for her, but I'm sure Jaclyn and Ryan will want us to come back up for that minor league baseball game we missed from our potential first visit, and I'm definitely looking forward to that!

Overall, it was a very fun time, so thanks to Jaclyn and Ryan for being such great hosts and for showing us around, and to Angela and Christopher for delaying their own trip long enough to see us!