The Dark Knight

WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!!
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!!

Oh and in cased you missed that...Warning! Spoiler Coming!
If you have not yet seen "The Dark Knight" and do not wish to know the plot beforehand, do not read this post.
You have been warned...



I have to say that "The Dark Knight" was simply one of the coolest movies I have ever seen. I had high expectations and the movie delivered. This movie had everything I feel a Batman movie should have and everything I hoped it would. Darkness, villains who feel like real villains, plenty of action, and lots more. This movie did not even come close to descending into the campiness that previous Batmans either started in or slid quickly into. It started gritty and stayed gritty.

When the movie first started it took me all of about 10 seconds to remember that Harvy Dent is two face when he flips his coin in the car. (I mean aside from the fact that any comic book reading/cartoon series watching person would have known it just from the name). I really liked how they brought in two face and then took him out, because I'm not sure how they would have turned him into the main villain of this newest series of batmans without descending into the campiness I mentioned before.

The Joker...
What can I say about the Joker. He was brilliantly psychotic. Never before in any Batman movie have I said to myself "Oh no...he's not going to..." gulp "...he did..." He actually made me cringe. He was perfectly played in my opinion. The makeup just gave him a gritty and real feel. Something that the Jack Nicholson Joker never had. He felt neither scary nor real. Heath Ledger's Joker was brilliant and cruel and made for a worthy adversary for Batman.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY KILLED OFF BATMAN'S GIRL!! What is up with that? Seriously...though I understand that poor Batman has to live in a solitude of sorts, did they really have to blow Rachel up??? /sigh
I guess they did. That was one of the things that really made me say to myself, "Wow, they're serious about keeping this series dark..." I was just really surprised that they would do that. I don't know if any of the previous Batmans have lost their girls to death (I'll have to look).

Finally, Batman. Cool. Human. Vulnerable. I do agree with my friend about the raspy voice thing, that does get old, but like I said to him, if that is the only thing wrong with the movie, then I think I can live with it. Batman was actually ready to expose his identity to the world, just to stop one villain. He cared about the people who were hurt, he didn't want his influence to cause any innocents pain. They really brought out what Batman is in this film. Not a lapdog vigilante, but the silent protector, an icon, the one it's ok for the people to hate, the Dark Knight.

Something Funny

Sorry, no rant today. Something very funny occurred today however. We got some new gadgets at work today, one of them being UPSs for our computers (no not the Post Office - Uninterruptible Power Supplies). I shut my computer down, hook everything up to the UPS and start my computer back up. Yay, take that possible power outtages.

Well as luck and irony would have it, just before 5 pm there was a power outtage. As the power is going off, I'm thinking, "Awesome, good thing we just happened to get these in today." Then my computer shuts off...

What I had failed to realize is that of the 8 slots, only 4 of them will actually use the UPS battery, and the other 4 are just surge protectors. Yeah, you guessed it. My computer and moniters were plugged into the surge protector side of the UPS, not the battery side.

Let that be a lesson to you. If you get a UPS...and some of the slots say "Battery" on them...it's not for plugging battery operated devices into. :P

The "True Fans" of Diablo 3

It never ceases to amaze me. Blizzard has continually released awesome games; I don't believe they have released even a single game that has not been well received by the gaming public. And yet, somehow, when their latest games are announced (StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3!!!!!) the collective Borg force, known as the internet, gets up in arms about every single tiny little detail that is released about the games from day 1.

My latest experience is with listening to the self-proclaimed "true fans" of Diablo 3. It seems to me that no longer are Blizzard's games...well Blizzard's, because the internet seems to have claimed them as their own. I don't know how many times I've seen someone on the forums say "our game" or "my beloved game" when telling Blizzard how much something about the game sucks. Their attitude seems to run along the lines of "How dare you make a game the way you want it to...as if you own it!" (Which...they...do!). I'm not kidding here, people think this way. In the past Blizzard has made awesome games with minimal input from the fan community. What makes the fan community all of the sudden believe that without them Blizzard can't possible make a good game and that it is up to them to correct every mistake that Blizzard has so stupidly made? (In their oh so enlightened opinions...)

Blizzard has released one, single, solitary, 20 minute game play video for Diablo 3, meant to show off its graphics and some of its new features. While the normal fans of Diablo 3 go "COOOOOOOOOOL! That will be an awesome game!" the "true fans" are up in arms screaming "NOOOOOOOOOO! What have you done to OUR beloved game!!??". Normal fans see the potential in the game and recognize the video for what it is...a demo to get people excited. The true fans lament over the fact that the game isn't monochromatic and hard to see anymore and have even made a rather silly online petition (with worthless security, it's completely spammable). They want the look and feel of the old Diablos preserved (monochromatic, repetitive, generally a pain in the butt). They seem to believe that if you can see past your character's nose, then it's too bright.

Normal or real fans as I'll call them, recognize that the game will go through many changes before final release. Art will be altered slightly, textures will be updated, and the interface improved. "True Fans" write entire forum posts about how the entire game is going to be absolutely horrible because of some minute thing they picked out of one screenshot or one 5 second segment of the video. They seem to believe that that 20 minute video represented the ENTIRE game's content and that Blizzard has no idea what they are doing, and of course that they know exactly what Blizzard should do to fix the problem.

Oh, and of course there are the people who say "It looks like World of WarCraft!!" You won't believe how many people there are who think that because the new Diablo has color in it and a few textures have a cartoonish feel, that suddenly the game is like WoW!! Oh noes!!! Even if this were true, heaven forbid! It's not like WoW, in any way shape or form. The art style is simply Blizzard's style, not World of WarCraft! It's not even the same development/concept team for heaven's sake.

Basically, people need to get over themselves and just let Blizzard make their games (I could go on about what people say about StarCraft 2, but this post has gone on long enough). Post your thoughts if you want, give opinions, let Blizzard know what you think but PLEASE for the love of all that is good, quit trying to put your opinions across as fact. Just because you don't like what you see does not mean it sucks! It simply means that you don't like it. Anyways, Blizzard is far more likely to listen to constructive criticism than the ever present whiny, snarling, vindictive, arrogant, haughty, self-absorbed opinions put forth by the internet Borg.

I just want to say, great job Blizzard, keep up the good work and don't let the internet get you down.

Free of the World of Warcraft

Two years ago, I never thought that I would say this, but I am officially bored of World of WarCraft. That game that brought countless wasted hours of fun and enjoyment and guilt for not doing something more productive has lost its hold entirely.

Now this isn't to say that I've stopped gaming entirely or that I always use my time as best it can be since I stopped playing, but I do think I've used my time better than before.

When I first took a break, it was with great sadness and reluctance, but it had to be done to make sure that I graduated from college. At the same time, however, I felt a great sense of relief, as if I had been freed from something that had been taking so much of my time and given nothing in return. After a few months away from the game I graduated as planned, but I found that now that I had free time again, I wanted to use it for other things. Like I said, not always more productive, but a wider variety of things. I had simply lost the desire to play World of WarCraft. The things that I had grown bored of before I even left the game loom over me every time I even think of playing again and I just decide to do something else. Even those few times I logged on before my account expired, the game would load, I would find myself in Thrallmar, and I would find myself just chatting with people for a while and not doing anything else. I would finally decide I'm bored and log back out.

I will miss the friends I made and who knows, maybe one day I may play it again, but that doesn't seem likely at this point. I have more time to spend with my wife and daughter and STILL have time to do other things. With World of Warcraft, I had to spend my free time farming gold so that I could spend the rest of my free time raiding. It began to feel more like working than playing. Now, I'm not trying to imply anything about people who still play; it's a fun game and I definitely understand why people play it, I'm just glad that I don't anymore.

We'll see if Wrath of the Lich King piques my interest again, but it would have to make some pretty drastic changes for me to really get into it again.

So, if there is anyone actually reading this, what do you think about World of WarCraft? For those of you who managed to break its stranglehold, did you feel the same feeling of being set free? Share your thoughts!

Robert Jordan Has Passed Away

Well, all you Wheel of Time fans out there, the thing we feared and hoped would not happen has come to pass. Robert Jordan passed away yesterday, Sunday Sept. 16, 2007.

Yes, I think most of us had issues with some of what he wrote and/or writing style at time, but I think in general he has provided us all with a fascinating world that has entertained us for many years.

The following site has information about Robert Jordan and his series, and links to other sites that discuss the matter.

http://www.dragonmount.com/

I think the words on dragonmount.com quoted from Robert Jordan's WoT series is appropriate here:

"May you shelter in the palm of the Creator's hand, and may the last embrace of the mother welcome you home."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Warning!! Spoiler Alert!! Do not read further if you do not wish to know a little of what happens in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Note: All characters and plot lines of HP7 property of J.K. Rowling


I've decided that I really need to start writing more, so I'll start with this small spot. My wife and I just finished reading the 7th Harry Potter book, and we loved it. The book had action, mystery, suspense, and a small smattering of love. So many questions were finally answered: Was Harry a horcrux? Who was Severas Snape really working for? Who would die and who would live? and more.

This book had me choked up half the time. I have to say that the three people who caused me the most sadness were Fred Weasley and Remus and Nymphadora Lupin. I was completely surprised by the death of Fred. Fred and George were both two of the coolest characters in the book. They could take any situation and make it funny and were loyal to Harry Potter until the end. Remus and Tonks weren't as much of a surprise to me due to the forshadowing of making Harry Teddy's Godfather. I was thinking to myself at that time, "will she do the same thing again?" She did.

I was glad to find out that Severas Snape really was working for Dumbledore to the very end. I think it was a very dramatic moment for Harry Potter to find out the truth, and to know that Snape had loved Lily Potter all his life and had her patronus. This was a cool revelation.

The whole thing about Harry Potter being a horcrux and dieing for the protection of others was a pretty cool concept. The whole thing seemed so messianic. Harry Potter willingly giving his life and then essentially coming back from the dead.

There is so much more I could say about the book, and will probably add to this later. For now I need to go; just know that this book was very well done from beginning to end. Kudos to J.K.

Our baby girl!

Well everyone, my wife, Svetlana, and I now have a little baby daughter. We decided to call her Erin Sophia. She was born 10:01 pm June 26th. She was 5 lbs 11 ounces and 18 inches. Sveta and I are both excited. We're home from the hospital now and everything seems to be going well. She's a little sleepy head, I guess she got that from me. Half the time she seems more interested in sleeping that eating. Anyways, she's just the cutest little thing. We'll make sure to keep family updated. Here are some pictures of her.

(These are just thumbnail size. If you want to download the pic, it will be full size.)
Erin not long after she was born

Sveta and I with the baby

Erin all bundled up

Here she is stretched out in the warmer

Close up

Erin in her one piece

In the carseat