Temporary

by Matt | Mar 3, 2007 | Personal

I broke something in the theme I was using and I don’t have a free minute to fix it until Monday. So, until then, you get this K2 theme, TrueBlue, which is the only K2 theme I’ve ever gotten to work properly. Feature of note: Click the “older” button above this post, and you get a nifty little slider thing that will let you go back in time. Until Monday…

And I thought it was bad before…

by Matt | Mar 2, 2007 | Personal

I’m honestly amazed that people like Fall Out Boy are allowed to make records. I’m even more amazed that the new album (Infinity on High) deputes at #1 in the US and #2 in England, you know, where good music is supposed to come from. What the hell?

Something is seriously wrong with the public that buys this crap. It’s either that you people (the public, not my readers) are fucking stupid and deaf or it really is a conspiracy. At this point I’m leaning towards conspiracy, and I’m really not a conspiracy theory sort of guy. There’s no way anyone with a choice is listening to this stuff.

Then of course, we get into the whole “the radio plays what they want you to hear” thing, which, is nearly 100% accurate. I’ve literally heard people say “oh no, not this song again” when listening to the radio, and by the end they’re humming along. TURN THE RADIO OFF.

This is not an exageration: I have not listened to FM radio in 8 years. Now, I’m not counting things like background music in an elevator or a resturant, that sort of stuff in unavoidable, but I have no actively listened to the radio in a very very long time.

I can’t speak with any sort of authority on the frequency of air time on radio stations any more, but I’m guessing that the “pop rock” stations in every major market probably played the hell out of that “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” track. It sucks a lot. Not a little, a lot. The album goes downhill from there.

Track 8 has clapping, Track 6 has a piano. What kind of crap is this? I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bigger attempt to sell out in my life. Every single track is radio friendly. They’re going to be playing singles off this for years. I bet they’ll pick up a Grammy too. How pathetic is that.

Please, for the good of our society, don’t buy this dribble. Don’t even pirate this dribble. It’s that bad.

Are there any review sites for music in the same style as RottenTomatoes is for movies? I’d love to read what other people think about this.

Baptism

by Matt | Feb 28, 2007 | Personal

I’ve started this post to try and explain why I got Baptised on Sunday about a million times. It’s hard to quantify one’s feelings on the all mighty without sounding cheesy OR preachy. The point is that this past Sunday, I was baptised.

It’s not something I take lightly, it was a serious decision on my part, and my purpose was to illustrate that I’m trying to be a better person. Not that I’ve been a “bad” person, but there’s a certain aspect of selflessness that goes into a conviction like this that I hadn’t previously possessed.

My reasons for it are vast and, especially for me, hard to understand. I’ve typed this “explanation” paragraph about a dozen times and each time it’s failed to live up to what I feel and what I’m trying to say. The short version is that I was Agnostic for quite a long time, meaning, I believed in God, but I didn’t really understand why or the specifics behind it. Now, after reading, listening, talking with people I consider friends, it “makes more sense.” I know that’s horribly vague. It’s just that the basic principals I learned as a child in Sunday school make more sense now than they did back then. Also, the concept of Grace, I believe, has played a large part in my life.

I believe, honestly, that I wouldn’t be here at this moment if it weren’t for God’s grace at a few key points in my life. If you were present at the events, you might say that it was merely luck. Maybe luck and grace are similar. I don’t know. All I know is that in retrospect, there’s no way it was “blind luck”.

As an example, do any of you remember when I was in a bad crash in my Mazda? I was hit, head on, at 60mph, by a giant SUV. There was literally nothing left of my car. Axles snapped, the windshield shattered all over me, the cabin was crushed, the gas tank was punctured and fuel was spilling out all over the place. It was a mess.

I walked away from that crash without so much as a bruise. Now, that was a 1982 Mazda, it didn’t have airbags. It didn’t have a reinforced frame. It didn’t have half the things that are now mandatory in most cars. The only thing that wasn’t destroyed in that car, was me. That, I consider to be an official miracle.

That’s just one example. There are others.

Now, I don’t want you to think that it’s solely because of near death experiences that I’ve been going to church, it’s not.

It’s really a combination of a whole lot of things that I won’t get into, and not even a fraction of them are “bad”. That’s what a lot of people think, is that people turn to God when times are tough. And, while they should, that’s not my motivation. Times are not tough, times are good. Actually I couldn’t be happier.

There’s also something to be said for the environment. The church we attend is filled with friends. It’s a really good place to be. It’s informal, it’s relaxed, and it’s the most positive church experience I’ve ever had. My outlook has changed from “Oh man, it’s Sunday, can’t we just sleep in?” to actually wanted to go and to see our friends.

So, it’s a combination of all these things that led me to my baptism this weekend. I hope you guys can see where I’m coming from and support me in my decision.

I also want to say that it’s not like I’m going to change my personality or stop being the person who I am. I’m still the same person who gets angry in traffic, passionate about video games, who likes to complain about things on his internet journal. I’m not going to get preachy and start throwing God in anyone’s face. I’m not going to go on any mission trips to Uganda, I’m not going to become a holier-than-though kinda guy. I’m the same person. I’m just going to try and not be such a selfish douche all the time.

This will be the first and last time I mention it, but I just felt like I should share this with you guys. You’re my family too, and this is a big step for me.

Quandry

by Matt | Feb 17, 2007 | Personal

I’ve recently been given a gift card with which to purchase Xbox 360 games. The best usage of this card and the gaming fruit it could produce has completely consumed my brain. Is it better to get one awesome game? Is it better to get 3 or 4 kinda cool games? Should I horde the card and save it for a date to be determined later? These are the things that keep me up at night. Not that normal things (paying bills, work, life) don’t keep me up, these are just the geek things that keep me from a restful slumber.

The reason this is such an issue is because I have zero plans to purchase an xbox game until the end of Q1 (mid-spring). There are a few games coming out in the summer that interested me, but for the most part, the next few months are rather bleak. So, if I’m going to get something, I’ve got to work with what I have.

So, what are my options. Well, the only “big” game I wanted recently was Rainbow Six: Vegas. It’s got solid reviews and the multiplayer is apparently entertaining. The problem with games like that is that I don’t know anyone else who enjoys them. I can’t get the “team capture the flag” vibe going with a bunch of strangers via Xbox Live. Crackdown ships next week but I was very less than impressed with the demo. It’s cell shaded, hokie, and basically GTA3 only you can jump tall buildings in a single bound. Sad. Forza Motorsport also came out last week to rather luke warm reviews. So, those are the “big” games for this month.

My other choice is to pick up some older titles that have since become “platinum hits” and are now $20. Projects Gotham Racing 3, Fight Night Round 3 and Burnout Revenge are all cheap at the moment. As is Dead or Alive 4, although slightly more than the other 3. The biggest problem I have with that is that, except for Fight Night, I already own those games. I’ve got PGR2, Burnout Takedown, and DOA Ultimate. All three series have had rather minor upgrades to the new platform. I’ve played, enjoyed, beaten and put away all three of those. Do I want to play them again? Not really. They weren’t bad, actually, they were very good, but it would be like watching the first seasons of Family Guy over and over again until one day you run out and buy the new the newest season, expecting it to be somehow “different”. How much of an upgrade could they possibly have given to bouncy boobs and fast cars?

I’m not sure what to do. All the awesome games for this year are months away. If I buy something, it’s got to get me through the cold bleakness that is the spring release schedule. Anyone have any input?