Bye Bye to this Teferi Guy

You've been working at this for hours now.  Your eyes are starting to make the screen into a blur.  A seemingly endless stream of cards is being entered into your growing database cataloging your collection of Magic: the Gathering cards.  Roll your Stamina.  If you succeed, you continue to finish the job.  If you fail, you begin to nod off, slowly at first but you will soon go lie down or fall asleep at the desk.

Yes it's true, I've finally decided to sell my Magic: the Gathering collection.  I've played once or twice in the past year and it just seems silly to keep them around when I could make some money from them.  It's not from lack of opportunity, I simply haven't had time.  Having a kid certainly renegotiates your priorities.  Add to that working 40+ hours a week with a forty-minute drive there and back, and my free time limited and prized.

I decided that I will keep two of my favorite decks, just in case the itch strikes amongst my friends and they want to play. They're both five-color decks and rely heavily on Dragon Arch to get multicolor creatures into play.  The decks differ in that one uses these creatures to put the hurt on the opponent, while the other uses them to satisfy the win condition of Coalition Victory.  Using five colors, they are vulnerable during the early game, but they can be particularly nasty in multiplayer if left alone until turn four or five.  With a good opening hand, the beatdown deck can have an Autochthon Wurm in play on turn five.

My mother-in-law was supposed to watch Negligent Mother's daughter today for a little bit.  To refresh, Negligent Mother has been out of her mother's house for one or two months now.  When she dropped off her daughter, her hair and clothes were nasty.  My mother-in-law had to get her clean and get all the clumps out of her hair so they could go get pictures done.  While they were getting pictures, the poor girl kept telling her mom that she had to potty.  Negligent Mother, who was busy texting, said, "I told you to shut the f*** up!"  My mother-in-law marched right over there and slapped her across the mouth.  No matter how bad a day I'm having, I can picture that moment and smile.

Today I'm reviewing Netflix and their streaming service.  Several months ago, we ditched paying roughly fifty dollars each month with cable, and went exclusively to Netflix Streaming.  At the time they didn't offer a streaming-only plan, so we have the one-disc plan which includes streaming.  The selection of available titles is good and is added upon weekly.  I use the service on my Xbox, so watching with a party is possible, but not a feature I have ever used.  And of course, the price of ten bucks a month is a bargain when compared to cable.  

And now for the bad news.  Oftentimes the service will slowdown or reduce your quality.  Other times the service will increase your quality up to HD.  The problem is that each time it raises or lowers your quality, the screen blacks out and returns a few seconds later.  When the service slows down, it kicks you out to a red screen and tells you that the connection has slowed.  On this phase, it takes anywhere from thirty seconds to twenty minutes or longer.  I haven't decided yet whether or not that inconvenience invalidates all the other nice attributes of Netflix streaming, but it is very annoying.

Ignominious is a Fun Word

You exit the building and see the car you were told about.  You approach the vehicle slowly and feel your stomach begin to lurch.  You sense something innately wrong with the inhabitants of this car.  As you near the driver's side door, the window rolls down.  Billowing smoke roils out from the open window.  While trying to manage your own breathing, a chilling sound alarms you: tiny coughs from the backseat.

These ignominious parents were smoking in a car with a baby with the windows rolled up.  These aberrations of the gene pool could be on a competitive level with your nemesis, Negligent Mother.  Will you confront these ne'er-do-wells or simply perform the business you were sent for?

 In case you couldn't tell yet, I get irritated at parents who don't care about their kids.  I noticed things before Kennedy was born, but now these poor decisions are marked with a huge neon sign proclaiming, "MORON."  As the DM said, these people could've given Negligent Mother a run for her food stamps.  The poor little girl was strapped in her car seat while the parents puffed away and there wasn't a thing she could to but cough and cry.

The recent snow we received was certainly a nice change of scenery.  We took Kennedy outside for just a couple of minutes so she could see and feel it.

I don't believe she quite knew what to think about the whole situation.  Maybe there will be snow next year as well and she can do some sledding.

After several grueling sessions, I managed to finish the main segment of Super Meat Boy on Xbox 360.  The game is a throwback to 80's and early 90's style platformers.  In other words: infuriatingly difficult.  As Meat Boy, your quest is to save Bandage Girl from the evil (or possibly misunderstood) Dr. Fetus.  Scattered throughout the worlds are bandages to collect and Warp Zones to find.

Collecting bandages will unlock new playable characters to use in the game.  Certain Warp Zones will also grant you a new playable character, but only after completing the zone.  Other Warp Zones are in the style of Atari, Game Boy, or early NES or Master System games.  These zones remind you of how far gaming has come in the past twenty-five years, as well as how far it has fallen.  Too many games today boast gorgeous processor-intensive graphics, while the story and gameplay suffer.  Final Fantasy XIII, I'm looking at you.

Super Meat Boy has been an enjoyable trip through memory lane, and I'm not quite ready to turn it off yet.  Each of the main worlds also has a dark side, with modified and even more difficult versions of the light-world levels.   These are the levels that make me think of the internet cult-hit, I Wanna Be the Guy, know for its sadistic difficulty.  I would recommend both games in a heartbeat.

Bumbo Review

December 31st.  Another year is expiring.  This was quite the eventful year for you; getting promoted, the birth of your daughter, and getting married.  With a new year comes the opportunity for new beginnings and the ubiquitous new year's resolutions.  Prosperity or poverty, forgiveness or grudges, victory or defeat.  What choices will define your new year?


The new year approaches with an ominous messenger.  Tornado watches are in effect for most of the tristate area.  Went to walmart this morning to grab some milk and it was like a war zone in there.  Most of the checkouts were open and at least five deep in line.  Luckily, a register opened up just as I got in the next line over.  That saved me at least ten minutes.

I'm working tonight and likely won't be home this year, so happy new year to everyone reading, and don't drink and drive.  I'd really hate it if you wrecked my car tonight.  And now, for the review!

d20 Modern Campaign / Blackest Night Review

I feel as though, except for my Dungeon-Master style post prologues, I've been neglecting the gamer side of this blog.  That error is rectified now!  Several of my friends and I regularly play tabletop roleplaying games.  We've played 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and recently a spectacular Vampire: the Masquerade campaign set in 1920's Chicago.  When one campaign ends, another person takes their turn leading a new campaign as the Storyteller or DM.  My turn will be coming after our next campaign, a Sabbat V:tM campaign set in present-day Seattle.  My campaign is a d20 Modern game set in the near future, with a twist.

The players are the characters.  Each player in the campaign will roleplay a version of themselves in an alternate, dystopian future.  I'm working on plot details of the campaign, and hope that writing for this blog will help jump-start the creative process.  I have a few encounters storylined and the general setting established.

This will be the first game that I have run myself, so I am a bit nervous.  Add to that the fact that our schedules are harder to line up than they have ever been.  It took us over a month to get everyone together for the final session of the Chicago campaign.  Despite all the potential stumbling blocks I may encounter, I am rather excited for my campaign, and hope my players are as well.

The DC Comics event won the review vote, so here goes.  I will be the first to admit that I'm not the ultimate authority on DC Universe lore, having only begun reading the company's works around six months ago.  Yet even with my limited knowledge, "Blackest Night" was an exciting and pleasurable read.

     

The story could certainly cause some confusion, so "Green Lantern: Blackest Night," "Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps," and "Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns" all serve to provide side stories that explain some of the plot details in the main graphic novel.  The events in the DC Universe have been leading up to "Blackest Night" since the reboot of the Green Lantern series in "Green Lantern: Rebirth."  Green Lantern story arcs leading up to this event include the "Sinestro Corps War," "Rage of the Red Lanterns," and "Agent Orange."

      

The last three of these serve to introduce Sinestro and his corps, Atrocitus and his Red Lanterns, and Larfleeze and the Orange Lantern, representing Fear, Rage, and Avarice respectively.  The Green Lanterns, of course, represent Willpower.  Filling out the spectrum of emotion are the Blue Lanterns representing Hope, the Indigo Tribe representing Compassion, and the violet Star Sapphires representing Love.  "Blackest Night" begins with the seven corps going to war with one another.  While the lanterns are embattled in the "War of Light," a black Central Power Battery begins assigning black power rings to the dead, reanimating them in the process.  The impending onslaught compels the corps to work together to eliminate this greater threat.  I won't delve further into the story to avoid any big spoilers, but this is a memorable event worthy of the accolades it has received.  Definitely a buy.

Vindication / Walker Review

As you make the final turn to your mother-in-law's house, you begin to consider the different outcomes that could arise from this visit.  You plan arguments and rebuttals before you even shift into park.  Your mental warfare against Negligent Mother is not unlike a game of chess against an opponent with no king.  You and your wife enter the house.


Negligent Mother is out for the day.  After you sent your message to her, your wife also gave her an earful about her blatantly lacking parental instincts.  Somehow, you get the impression that she is avoiding the two of you.  With the imminent drama removed from the situation, you are free to enjoy a day in the company of loved ones.


All the drama of the past few days seemed as though it would fizzle out when we arrived and she had run off for the day.  Later, by some innate agent of chaos, it was revealed that Negligent Mother had also been spreading a lie about her parents that was hurtful to my wife's other sister.  For the record, Negligent Mother lives with her parents rent-free, so making them angry seems like a poor decision to make.

Most of the day was great though.  We got a Leapfrog My Pal Scout for Negligent Mother's daughter, and she had a blast with it.  I had it programmed for her name and favorite food, color, and animal before we left. I also took a nice nap with my baby girl during "Batman Begins."  Here's a picture of Kennedy on Christmas day with her new Leapfrog My Pal Violet.

I promised to do a review today, so I'll be talking about the walker we bought for her about a month ago from Toys R Us.  It is the Fisher Price Little Superstar Step 'n Play Piano.  This is an amazing walker that Kennedy adores.  When turned on, the piano keys at the bottom actually sound a piano note when stepped on by baby's feet.  On the front of the play set are smaller keys that will activate music when pressed.  There is a small assortment of melodies and songs included.

Kennedy's favorite part of the set is the noisemakers.  On either side of the seat are rotating drums, one which has little balls inside that make a rattle noise, and the other makes clicks.  In the picture, you can see Kennedy playing with a rattle, and on the other side is a little yellow bell.  Once she has grabbed that bell, game over, man.  She's also fond of the triangle mirror on the back side.  For some reason, every time she looks in, there's a pretty baby looking back at her.  She's not quite figured that part out yet, but she's working on it.

This is a wonderful walker, but I don't think I would have paid Amazon's list price of $199.95.  We got ours at Toys R Us for a little under $100, which I think is a good price for what you get.

Next up for review will either be "Green Lantern: Blackest Night," or DJ Hero 2.  I want your input!