I've run an update to my blog soft, part of my on going fight against spam.

There may be some broken elements, so if I've missed anything, feel free to point them out!

So the Crackdown (xbox360) demo came out today. I've been looking forward to the game for a long time now, and game play wise, they lived up to most of their promises. It really is quite impressive, and very fun.

HOWEVER!

They broke the golden rule, and have thusly added the game to the list of games I simply cannot purchase on principle alone.

In Game Ads.

Gross.

If seeing ads for Dodge trucks in the middle of a roof-top hopping fire fight doesn't make you mad, or make you feel insulted, then Crackdown is highly recommendable. It's got a lot of cool wonderful features that make GTA look like kids stuff. Online co-op, massive world, awesome player feats, and it's just plain fun.


Bottom Line,

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves gets my gaming dollar this time.

I woke up this morning.

I'm still alive.

Turned on the radio to start a new day.

Goddamn DJ is chatting, "This just in! Schools closed in Dallas County due to bad icy weather!"

Phone rings.

Work - "Mr. Mayberry, school is closed, get some sleep!"

Me - "WOOT! IT'S A FUCKING SNOWDAY!"

Roommate - "I'm playing WoW, STFU!"

So I hereby declare the day after the day after MLK day to be: AWESOME.

Honestly, I think I did more in '06 than I could ever have dreamed at the end of '05. Lets see if I can recall any of it:

One year of gainful employment... at the same job. TWICE! I even got a promotion. Woot!

Picked up the Bass Guitar. (Lee, Fennig, & Spice, you guys rock!)

Beat everyone at Smash Bros. (Technical win, but a win none the less!)

Ignored hurricane force winds while enjoying Superman at the Imax in Whiteplains, NY.

Survived another 6 weeks stay at SummerTech, didn't loose as much weight, but I did loose much more "flab" and a few pant sizes. I got it all back over the holidays, however.

Cut my hippy hair. However, it too is back.

Best Machinima Film Festival, ever!

Saved money little by little from January till August in order to spend a week in Tokyo. Proclaimed my adoration for a certain someone, and followed up with plans to spend 2/14/07 alone, like usual. My resolve has not wavered.

Signed up for my first line of credit, and quickly squandered it on a big ass HDTV. 18mo @ 0% baby!

Managed to keep a car 1 full year, with only minor injuries.

Made Machinima! More Machinima than I honestly care to recall. I had my hand in over a dozen student films, and wrote a great deal of scripts for DoQ.

Took photography a little more serious, even spending hours color correcting and experimenting. Kicked my self for not bringing a reliable SD card to Tokyo, and allowed most of my pics to die.

Camped in line opening morning for a game console; ironically, this was taking a break from camping. (Wii)

Purchased TWO game consoles. (Wii/360) Not sure where the money all came from, but I don't have any games for either one. (Gears of War and Zelda)

Christmas went smoothly with zero issues. I mean, WTF!?

I know I did a lot more, I didn't even get into how busy I was at work, moving and installing technology into a new building. I also didn't go into how we managed to sign (practically) the most killer band to score our next Machinima, but I digress.

Well, so long 2006! Awesome as you were, you've got to go. See ya!

Coming up in '07? A TV special on PBS, Machinima Film of the Year, personal indie 3D game project, Burning Man + road trip, and no SummerTech?! Well, we shall see. We shall see!

Time to be nice to the people you can't stand!

I'm on break, and you know what that means?

That's right! A blog update with pictures of random stuff I took with my phone!



I felt like removing my 24" SD TV and all the stereo equipment.


Here's Dallas, right as I came back from the MFF 2006


More cloud shots.


In typical southern fashion, you've got to do everything your self!


And even more cloud shots.


Holy crap! It froze over, and then snowed! In Texas!


Didn't last long. Thanks to the almighty power of the sun. (Earth's closest star, FYI)





About that missing 24" TV and crap.














Yeah! Baby! 56" 1080p DLP FTW!

It's like your there, man!

I'm also saving my money ( /looks at TV, "hahahahahahaha!") for maybe quite possibly going to The Burning Man next year. I'm not sure what kind of hell I'm about to put my self through, but if nothing else I'll have some crazy subjects to photograph.

There is also talks among my inner-circle for a trip to Japan year after next. (Not my idea this time! Honest!) If it does indeed go down, I'll be sure to stay for a few weeks, rather than just a few days. (And get outside Tokyo for a stretch.)