Grinds My Gears: Video Game Edition

Yes, I really couldn't come up withe a better title. My creativity is kicked. Terrible. I need a spark in my life to get back into this.

Okay, so I play video games. Mainly the sports games. Definitely get some Call of Duty in there too. Anyways, they come out with a new version of the game every year. I wrote earlier how annoying it is that video games come out every year and expect people to milk it. At the same time, how else can they make money every year?

For me, it's a constant black hole. I give in easily. While I don't buy a new sports game every year, it's easily every few. Gives me and my friends something to do instead of going out and being reckless causing mayhem.

Anyways, long story short, I just bought Tiger Woods 12 since it was on sale. I bought it and found out that it comes with something like 12 courses. That's fine. The problem? They offer another 18 courses online that you pay for, at 4 bucks a pop. 4 x 18 is 72. So if I were to buy all of the courses available, I'd spend 60 bucks on the game, 72 on the courses, for a grand total of 132 bucks.

Hanh? 132 bucks? For a game that comes out once every year? Something where if I were to buy Tiger 13 I'd have to do it again? Greedy bastards.

I think offering additional content is a nice way to increase interest in a game, although I believe companies now purposefully leave things out to sell it later, because they want to milk money out of us. The problem with Tiger? They incorporate the courses into the single player game, effectively not allowing you to play the way they want you to. They're trying to force your hand into sinking more money into it.

Again, is there anything we can do? No. The fleecing of America.

Wrestling

Like I said last post, I still haven't forgotten you. I just have had zero creative things to write. I'm not going to write posts that suck.

Okay, so I think I've half gotten back into wrestling. And by wrestling, I mean the WWF/E Vince McMahon monster that I was obsessed with in like 6th grade. But when I say obsessed, I was obsessed. Not quite Star Wars obsessed, but it was the show I watched. I couldn't wait for Thursday Night Smackdown.

Can you blame me though? Back then, The Rock and Stone Cold were excellent entertainers. It was just enough violence for me to think it was cool. My parents wouldn't let me watch any of the other episodes of it, so I had to settle for that Thursday.

Why'd I fall off? I can't honestly say. I don't remember. My guess? The Rock left. Stone Cold "retired". Episode 1 of Star Wars came out. The Lord of the Rings. I don't really know. It just ended. I'd watch it every now and then and say "good God this is terrible."

What brought me back? Very simple - The Rock. If you watch that clip, and you grew up loving the Rock like I did, then you are guaran-damn-teed to get goosebumps. It's amazing.

Now that I'm somewhere like 12 years older than the 11 year old that watched it and thought it was real, I do have a little more appreciation for the "business" of wrestling. Everything is very calculated and they write the storylines and blah blah. When I was a kid? I thought it was all real. They all hated each other. All the punches were real. The chairs were real etc. They know exactly what they're doing to maintain an audience, keep them interested, build up new superstars, and ultimately grow the brand even further.

Bringing back The Rock got me - and I'm sure many more - half back into it. I'm not going to watch an entire show. I'll read highlights. Watch the YouTube clip, whatever. If I'm channel surfing and see it on, I'll at least check it out. I was also excited for Wrestlemania because the meatball Snooki was wrestling, and thought it'd be great to see her get beat up. Needless to say, she didn't.

The matches are somewhat entertaining sometimes. Trying to decipher the real vs fake is fun. Sometimes the stupidity of the storyline or the way they have to hint at inappropriate content makes me laugh. The corniness of these characters is so stupid it's funny. Seeing Stone Cold give someone the Stunner and pour beer all over them is all I really need to see. The Rock isn't "really" back. He's half back. Which is why I'm half into it. He's out promoting movies and shooting movies, so it's not realistic that he's going to a) be a consistent part of the show or b) fight anytime soon so he doesn't mess up his movie career. Huge insurance pay out on that.

I'm not sure if I'm regressing because I'm watching wrestling. Or is that just because I'm bored with everything else on? The only thing I have looking forward to is Treme, and there isn't a huge amount of entertainment value there. Sure I'm going to enjoy it, but I won't laugh the same way I will like I laugh watching the clowns fake fight each other. Maybe I'm just trying to re-live some of the glory days before I get full-on sucked into being an adult. Who knows. But in the meantime, I am smelling what The Rock is cooking.

I hate politics

No, I haven't forgotten about you. I just haven't had a good idea in months. This isn't a good idea, I'm just pissed. I also have no clue what I'm talking about. Ummmm, thanks for sticking around?

What the hell is going on with our government? This whole "government" shutdown is the biggest crock of sh!t I've ever heard of. We can't agree on a budget. Okay. Who approved the $86 billion budget for the Department of Defense? This is a joke.

The reason why I hate politics is over crap like this. Nothing gets done. They argue over mute points and threaten to shut down - failing the people who elected them into power. Nice going guys.

In school we talked about politics as "the art of compromise." So, elected officials of the government, COMPROMISE DAMMIT.

Again, I really don't know what I'm talking about, but this just makes ZERO sense to me, and it angers the hell out of me. The greatest country in the world and we cant agree on a budget. Maybe if we didn't just spend $126 some million in Libya over two days then we could have an agreement. Or if we weren't still in Iraq. Or Afghanistan. And instead, maybe we could help fix ourselves, our still unstable economy, and our ever-slowly growing unemployment rate.

Seriously, this is outrageous. I want to move to the Bahamas or some Carribbean island once I can. I'm tired of this nonsense.

Death of a Phone Call

Meant to write this post last week - I read a really interesting article about how text-dependent we've become.

I know I've talked about this before and it's not the first time I've thought/talked/elaborated on it. It's so true, and this article says it better than I think I ever could. Phone calls are "uncontrollable" and nobody likes not being in control. There's a demand for an immediate response, within seconds.

Depending on the type of call, it could be very imperative that what is said is thought out and said effectively. Being on the phone doesn't totally mean that you're getting that person's full attention. In an office setting, they're more than likely reading e-mail. On a cell phone, they're most definitely doing something other than focusing squarely on the call. So it's really become the least effective way to communicate, because you don't really have someone's attention.

Texts offer a sense of control and stability. You can stop, think about what you want to say, say it to it's strongest point (within 160 characters) and then not think about it until you get a response, which can be happen anywhere between a few seconds or a few hours. It's like this blog - I can take my time, write what I want, and say it as strongly as I think (or have time) to finish it, without worrying about looking like a (total) idiot.

I still get frustrated with texts because of they never seem to "end". Conversations can be drug out over hours if they're isn't rapid fire responses. There rarely seems like a "goodbye" to them, it's always one person not responding to the other. I always feel like I'm the one who sends that last text that doesn't yield a response. I say that, although I may not realize when I don't respond to someone, ending the conversation.

Depending on the person, I think what did I said to not yield a response. It's like you have to say something to warrant a response. You have to ask a question or say something ridiculous that requires a response. Otherwise you won't hear back. And then what happens? How do you start the next text? Then you double think everything. "I'm not gonna text her back, she never responds." "Why doesn't he respond to my texts." "she saw my BBM and didn't respond." That one True Life about having Digital Drama made me want to scream, but this is the world we live in. Needless to say, I'm very content to not have that in my life. For now.

It started back when instant messaging started, when it would be one person at a time speaking and you'd wait to hear back. That's not how I usually talk in real life, but I also think I talk a lot. Too much sometimes. That's why I blog, because no one responds to my texts, so I just say everything I want here. I'm kidding. Sort of. Well. This is embarssing.

P.S. the worst thing about texts? Those texts that don't say anything. The "yeah" or "umm" or "lol". Thanks for wasting my time. That's how conversations die. Next please.

The thing with texts is that it's mobile instant messaging, and with these cell phones you have no idea what the other person is doing. May not have their phone. May be at the gym. May be out to dinner. May hold onto their phone like it's a third appendage. Yet people (especially people trying to make plans/friends/relationships/drug deals) get so angry over people not responding to texts. Especially when it's a "what are you doing tonight/want to hang out" type deal and I know people who literally say "wtf how do they not answer their phone". It's true but it's stupid that this is what we've come to. The digital/non vocal way of communicating that is all text based.

I've made jokes before about online dating sites and then over the weekend had a serious talk with one of my buddies about how 1 in 5 relationships start online. 1 in 5. 20%. That might just be PR/advertising BS, but holy hell, that's terrible. Could you imagine dating someone who you've met online and sent e-mails or whatever? I really don't know anything about the process, and really don't think I should be dating any girls for the next 17 years while I figure out my life/grow up, but wow. That sounds miserable, meeting someone online. And then that awkward like first meet. I feel like all the True Life's I've seen lately say "I'm dating online." Clearly I'm watching too much True Life. Most people on that show are degenerates anyway.

This really wasn't about dating sites. I might make a post of that later of my female friend's horror stories from them. The point is, the Internet/Technology has developed that we don't communicate in person any more. It's not breaking news (although maybe @BreakingNews might tweet it, since they're idiots). It's just sad how we don't communicate anymore. I can't say I'm innocent of any of it either. I'd rather text. I've avoided phone calls to send a text later. I'd rather we didn't have the option, but we do. Can't wish it away, not going anywhere. If you give someone an easy out, they're going to take it.

Anyways, what's everyone's plan this weekend? Text me!

Proving a Point

A couple posts ago I wrote that Bruce was the best concert I've ever been too. The readers of Rolling Stone agree. Who knew I had so many friends?

I'm not going to bore you and re-write my obsession with Bruce or his concerts, butttt I'm right.

Working On A Dream.