Tuesday, May 31, 2005

PWNED!!!!


Pwned
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
Stoudamire needed 1 block Monday night and he got it. I realize that the Suns are down 3 games to 1, but they are going back to phx to play game 5 and anything is possible from there. I mean look at that debacle in last years American League Championship Series.

EXACTLY!!!!


Marnie2aT
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
You have no idea how many times I have thought this to myself. It was different when she was a warrior, but now she has a little puppy dog running around sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong.


btw - i love you marnie. ;)

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Letting you down

I don't think there is anything worse in the world then someone letting you down. If feels like getting suckered punched, right in the face. It especially hurts when you had to jump through many hoops in order to pull off something for the people that let you down. It just makes it worse because you put your name on the line for them and they didn't come through.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Going for a Ride


Mike and Marnie
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
Marnie and I catching a ride from Crossroads to Thunder Bluff. Marnie is Callyleia and just dinged. She is a lvl 16 Hunter with her pet named Melli. I'm a lvl 31 Tauren Warrior. We are both playing on Dunemaul with our friends from Arizona. The Horde is a much different experience than playing Alliance, especially on a PVP server. I hate getting ganked and poor Marnie tagged some ?? Rogue in Rachet.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Real Thoughts

Is this what people really think about game designers?

That comic was pretty funny.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Worst Day...EVAR!!!

Yesterday was just about the worst day I have had in a long time. It seems like nothing would go right yesterday both work related and non work related. It was just one thing after another. Stupid WoW guild BS that really shouldn't mean anything to anyone. Nothing going right at work, I feel like things are going backwards instead of forwards. On top of it all the Mets got shutout by those damn Braves and the Suns lost their second game at home and are heading to San Antonio 0-2.

Today is not looking any better. :(

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

No Wonder People Don't Understand...

This explains a lot

And here I thought that *I* was doing something wrong.

Mets just not there... :(


wright
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
First off, that pitch to Horatio was soooo a strike and should have ended the god damn inning right there. After that Ishii was just off his game.

So here it is, the bases are full of Mets and it's like the 7th or 8th inning and it's 10pm. Know what comes on at 10pm on Monday nights...the Inferno II. I log off WoW from the laptop and race into the bedroom to turn the game back on and what do I see...David Wright flinging his freaking batting helmet at the umpire. This can't be good. I watch the replay and yes, he was out of the basepath. I have seen much, much worse not get called. So he gets called out, and evidently the rules state that the Braves get a free double play even though the throw was off target at first and that put them out of the inning and the two runs didn't score. What a load of malarkey.

Then no mets pitcher could get a call. Bottom of the 8 Dejean had like three strikes that were called balls. It was ugly.

Top of the 9th, Woodward comes up and I'm thinking "great, some random bench player is gonna meakly line out". He puts one over the fence. I will never speak badly about Woodward again. Difelice comes up and gets out, but not before 2 low strikes were called. Stupid biased umpires.

Piazza comes up and looks real bad. Reyes atones for his horrible error in the 8th inning and gets on base and Cairo is a pimp so he gets on. So the tying run is at 2nd and Mike Cameron is up. I dont' particularly like Cameron but tonite he's 3/3 with a BB as well. They call the low strike again, which just infuriates me more and then Cameron swings at a low one that probably would have been called a strike too. Works the count back to 2-2 and the Braves call time. Old Man Willard comes over and talks to him. Kolb throws a high one probably out of the strike zone and Cameron swings at it. Ball game.

The Mets looked so bad last night and they really needed to take that game. If they have any chance of keeping in this race up until the all star break they need to take this series and win the next two from the braves.

God I hate the braves.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Every boy and every girl...

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!1111one


I will be the first in line for tickets if they come here. When does Color Me Badd get back together?

Friday, May 20, 2005

My "Friend"


Aniston
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
So I was watching Office Space last night (because cable was out and I hate Cox cable, but that's a different blog entry) and I was thinking to myself, "jeez, Joanna looks a lot like a friend of mine". The case got stronger as the movie went on, especially in the "flare" discussions with the Chotchkies manager. Just the way that she looked when she said things and her mannerisms. This has also been mentioned in other blogs as well.

"so uhh..more flare then?"

Episdoe III - Girard's Take

I don't let people get me down about things that I'm excited about. I probably know more movie critics than any major motion picture studio. There are even people that would go so far as to boycott it. To each his own I guess. The following may contain spoilers, who knows.

I really liked this movie. I didn't think that the reference train was over done. I mean, I liked the fact that they went to great lengths to tie up loose ends and it shows that George cares about such things. He could have just said "screw it, I'm not doing anything for the fans of the original trilogy". Which a lot of the fans believed that he did for the first couple movies. I guess I was a firm believer in him when he said that these movies were mostly for new fans, not necessarily the old ones.

I didn't mind the comedy in the opening portions of the movie, I actually laughed and thought it was entertaining. I also did see the Falcon docked at the Senate building when they were landing with Palpatine.

I loved the unsure nature of what Anakin was going through. He was being taught that the Jedi way is the right way. No feelings and selfless. To me there was a comparison of Vulcan vs. Human a little bit there. It was especially tough for him because of the passion he had for Padme. Then comes along the "for the good of the country" attitude of Palpatine, which was also what he was taught, which was that the republic was bigger than any one person. So, go down the route of the jedi or the route of palpatine, a way that he can embrace his passion for padme and still continue to serve the republic. I think this portion was the most enriching and entertaining to me, mostly because I don't know that if the situation was presented to me, that I would have chosen a different path.

Padme's death was also something that I could relate to and understand. Marnie has seen the movie yet, but I am sure that she will understand the "loss of will to live." Marnie and I have discussed this several times and because we have such passion and undying love for each other, this wouldnt' be unlike something that we would probably experience with the loss of the other. We feel that strongly about each other and the idea that life is not worth living without the other is not foreign to us.

So to me, it's a thinking person's movie. There were a lot of thought provoking conversations and situations that I enjoyed being privvy to. This also helped to make segues to action sequences. I mean, the movie couldn't be completely 100% action and I think Lucas did a great job providing the viewer with thought provoking material in between.

All that and soo many SW references to all the movies, it was great. And hey, any movie with a mouse droid can't be bad at all. I know I will be seeing it many times again.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

I heart SW

OMFG

I just got back seeing the movie and it was freaking amazing. I don't know what to say. I had so much fun and was thoroughly entertained. None of you haters can drag me down, it was quite an experience.

More to come.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Terms

Incase there was a time that you didn't know what I was talking about.

Urban Dictionary

Monday, May 16, 2005

New Hotness


After
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
This is me...cautiously optimistic. This is me thinking that things could be worse. This is me celebrating the memories that I have created with my friends. This is me ready to take on the world armed with a smile and a better outlook on life.


It's amazing what a shave and a haircut will do for the spirits.

Old and Busted


Before
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
This is me before. This is me down about my job and unsure about my future. This is me mourning my friends. This is me being depressed about life in general.

Fragment Flood

Well, all the cool kids are doing it and I have soo much to say here, it's a pity that people read this and I can't be as honest as I want to be.

Three qualifiers in 1998 in the Tatooine Regional. Denver had two Joshs in the finals. Salt Lake had two Jeremys. And Phoenix had two Mikes. Luckily, I was the Mike that won.

I remember trying to figure out who this pompous windbag was that was writing for Scrye. I mean c'mon, do you know how many holes were in that Hoth clouds deck?

I remember getting my couple of boxes of special edition. Sitting at Jester's Court cracking them with Jeremy Lamere and trying to find the most broken deck for Worlds 1998. Then meeting Gabe Alonso on a plane from Atlanta to Norfolk. Then watching Gabe ambush the Japanese player and getting him to trade with before anyone else had a chance. Then saying "sure I have those 6 commons, who is going to play with these anyway". Then 3 hours later, trying feverishly to find 6 Bothuwai operatives.

I also met Tom Lischke, Chuck Kallenbach, Joe Alread, Tim Ellington at this DecipherCon. I have many pictures, one with Chuck and Tom pointing and smiling at the SWCCG glossary.

Two players that were in their 3rd straight world championship, playing at the last table because they didn't want to play operatives/or didn't know about it.

Walking up to Tom at Origins 1999 and asking him to sign my Yub Yub because it canceled Empire's New Order which canceled the Droid Merchants gametext. Boy did I get a look.

"Put your deck on the table"..only in Australian, so deck sounded like a part of the male anatomy. And this was on the speaker.

I remember getting a phone call at my cubicle in mid 1999. It was Tom Lischke wanting to know more about this Maelstrom deck. I almost pissed myself with glee.

Fastforward

I remember getting a phone call from Tim Ellington asking if there was, hypothetically, a job open in the Game Studio would I be more interested in that than the job in Sales that I was applying for. Again with the giddyness.

I remember meeting Kathy for the first time and thinking to myself "where does this lady get off" and I remember that was the last time I ever thought.

Game nights at Chuck. Watching and waiting to see if my color'ed guy was the least amount to fall out of the tower and how would that affect the eastern block that I had so masterfully worked. Playing Mario Kart and being good at it. Using the puppet strings on Sandy to sell stuff so I can shove a coffee in the trading house. Hey it was good for him too, he got to sell a sugar before anyone else.

Car trip to Origins. And listening to that random book on tape about some witch and checking for...oh never mind.

I remember having a discussion with Brad. One of many, but this one in particular was different and it would be the last disccusion we would have like that. So many more discussions resulted in so many great cards. I miss Brad.

I remember every time the design/develop relationship worked and watched the fruits of the labor.

I know what not to send to Helge

I remember Chuck and Cheryl being good to me all the time, especially on holidays.

I remember that fateful day when I got a phone call at the sports bar and ran home. Evan's games were never the same.

I remember almost every time that I wheeled around the corner to talk to Brad and him *always* having a smile on his face and happy to engage in conversation.

I remember the first time that Brad and Evan bestowed their knowledge on me and thinking to myself "what do these guys know". And I remember never thinking that again.

I now know that there is value in DVD extras.

I feel tempted to divulge secrets and save my entire crew to this interrupt that sits on the table.

I liked talking sports with Tom. He would always listen and actually know what I'm talking about. And would always know when I was trying to pull a fast one. Not that that was particularly often.

I like to think that I learned what "elegant" design is in the time that these influential people were my co-workers.

I remember when I used to design cards rather than do paperwork.

I miss Tom's "encouragement"

I remember when it was fun to come to work and I looked forward to each day.

I do know one thing, I have made more friends and learned more in the past 2 years than probably the previous 5-10. Up until about 4 months ago, this was the funnest job I have ever had and it's what I wanted to do with my life. I wish I could still say that.

Each and every one of you has touched my life in a unique way and I hope that I can stay in touch and continue to learn from the experts.

There is no way that this is everything, but it took a struggle with the psyche to get all this out...ooo...pretty colors.

Give him back his Wallet!!!


Gm4Nash
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
So the Suns dropped game 4. I couldn't believe that officials in this game. I mean you would think that since the game is over now they Mavs would give Amare back his wallet. Everytime that Amare touched the ball he was draped in Maverick players, yet every time those same Maverick players set foot in the lane, the whistle blew...even if there wasn't a Sun within 5 feet.

This was probably the first time that I thought that the NBA was rigged. Of course I'm probably just a fanboy and since they were losing..yea yea.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Ian - What can I say?

So Ian stepped down. He felt that he had lost the respect of his friends Katie and Tom so he made a deal with Tom that if he stepped down that Tom would take Katie to the final two. I feel that Ian had the stamina left to outlast Tom on that immunity challenge and I'm not sure if I respect Ian more or less for what he did. I mean is the respect of two people that you may never see again be worth a chance at $1 million? Does this make Ian the biggest martyr in reality TV history?

Why?

Why can't I please all the people all the time?
Why aren't the mets leading the NL East?
Why can't I have my cake and eat it too?
Why is Arizona so perfect?
Why can't life be easy?
Why can't everyone get along?
Why can you love someone, but not necessarily like them?
Why don't people get their just desserts?
Why don't more people like the 5th Element?
Why am I so depressed?
Why does JJ always lose?
Why is Marnie so in to World of Warcraft?
Why do people (especially females) like drama so much?
Why do some people feel like they need to own "things" in order to feel good about themselves?
Why does everything have to be sooo difficult?
Why can't things work out?
Why can't we go back to the way things were in 2002...please, I give my..uhh..some random body part if we could. Things were easier then.

Why?

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Bones Heuer


Scarlet monastery 1
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
This is us after finishing up the barrages of lvl 30s that come after killing the 2nd main guy in Scarlet Monastery. That skeleton guy is Kyle, i forget where he said he got that sweetness. Anyway, in spews like 20 of these guys and the boys set their AOE stuff up and knock em all down in one fell sweep. It was pretty leet.

Paladon, Bree and Girard wrecking SM


Scarlet Monastery 2
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
Here is me Kyle and Chuck after finishing up the ending guy in Scarlet Monastery. We gotta kill this guy, then his witch comes out, takes a beating, puts us down for a nap, rezes him and then we have to fight them both (with her healing him). We weren't afraid for one second. We did SM in about an hour or two (didn't keep precise track).

That's right...we're studs.

Suns Take Game 3


NashDish
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
The leagues MVP Steve Nash put in 27 points and had 17 assists enroute to a smashing of the Mavs. The Suns went on a couple of their patented runs and were able to beat the Mavs and score more than 110 in the process. They are looking good and should go all the way to the finals.

Friday, May 13, 2005

Mourning friends

I must say that I will miss all of you. I wish none of this had to happen and it leaves me wondering why did I stay when so many people are more qualified than me. So many friends that I won't see on a regular basis. If any of you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask.

Caryn is GONE


Caryn
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
Thank goodness. I think she absolutely sealed her fate after her little tirade at tribal council. And I'm glad that Ian is still around. That boy gets emotional, but at least he's not demanding as Tom. I think that Ian should have this about wrapped up. He tells Tom to vote for the non-katie girl. And him and Katie vote for Tom and then him and Katie vote the non-katie girl off.

I think he can sell it to Katie and make her believe that she has a better chance in the final two with him, because he'll be billed as a manipulator and wont' get the votes. Hopefully the jury will see that he just played the game like Rich and give him the title.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Suns Drop Game 2


act_shawn_marion
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
So the Suns came out looking bad last night. They were losing by as much as 16 at one point during the first half. The Matrix (pictured) came up big at the start of the second half and the Suns came back to tie it. It was back and forth down to the wire. Amare missed two huge 5 foot baskets inside of two minutes left in the game that would have put the Suns up. Oh well, they still looked better in the second half and should at the very least take 1 of 2 in dallas.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Go Rob and Amber

They are my horses for the Amazing Race. Unfortunately, Marnie's are out (the old couple). I really hate the beauty queen and the POW. I hope Rob and Amber bring it home for me.


DAMN IT!!!!!
they lost :(
I think the show is rigged. Talk about drama. Sure, the feel good story of the couple that had no money and were soooooo far behind come back and win. I guess it's good TV.

To The Tick Tock Ya Don't Stop

To The Tick Tock Ya Don't Stop, To The Tick Top Ya Don't Stop

Come inside take off your coat,
ill make you feel at home
Now lets pour a glass of wine
coz now we're all alone,
I've been waiting all nite
so just let me hold you close to me
Coz i've been dieing for you girl
to make love to me

Bridge
Girl you make me feel real good,
We can do it till we both wake up
Girl you know im hooked on you
and this is what i'll do,

Chorus:
(I wanna love you down)
I wanna sex you up,
All nite, (you make me feel good)
I want (to rub you down)
I wanna sex you up,

Let me take off all your clothes.
Disconnect the phone so nobody knows.
Let me light a candle,
So that we can make it better.
Makin' love until we drown.

Girl, you know it feels real good.
We can do it 'til we both wake up.
Girlyou know I'm hooked on you.
And this is what I'll do.

*CHORUS*

Make sweet lovin' all night long...
(I wanna sex you up)
Feels so right it can't be wrong...
Don't be shy girl rescue me...
(i wanna sex you up)
Open up your heart and I'll set you free...



- I wish it was still the 90s

More SW vs. Serenity


pvp20050510
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
This from one of my favorite comic strips. It's always got some funny jokes that gamers/fanboys get. http://www.pvponline.com

Monday, May 09, 2005

Serenity vs. Star Wars

Maybe I'm the only that has this brewing, but it seems to be festering. A lot of people are very anti-SW and yet they are preaching Serenity. Some sort of cult following. I guess I'm bitter because Serenity probably wouldnt' be around if SW wasn't around. To me, Serenity looks like just another random Sci-fi movie like Andromeda, Seaquest DSV, Stargate, etc.

Picture

Uploaded my profile picture. It's from about 3 or 4 years ago when I had blond hair...well hair at least.

So...bald or blond hair?

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Q'ing for WSOP

So my good friend Joe Alread qualified for and played in the WSOP last year. I figured to shake some of the doldrums lately, I would try and qualify. I doubt that I will make it, but it's fun to try and if I make it, I could get famous, like my buddy joe.

Friday, May 06, 2005

Moved in...YAY!!!

It's 9:33 and we are completely moved in. we have 1 room full boxes left to unpack, but for the most part we are here. There are 12 apartments in my building, 11 have dogs, 7 have multiple dogs. I think the entire complex is full of dogs, which is ok. I like dogs for the most part. The guy next door plays his music loud and the people above us sound like they are wrestling.

Oh the joys of living in an apartment again. BTW - despite Virginia's best efforts to ruin our move with the constant torrential downpour...we are moved in. Just 1 hole in the box spring. Everything looks to be intact, the wireless is set up and locked down (now). There are three other networks I can access from here though. >:)

Moving Day

So today is moving day. I have the day off from work because I have to move the family into a new place. It's great, we are going from paying something like $1100 to paying $885. Money in the bank.

however

IT'S FREAKING RAINING!!!!! Yep, no love for the Girard. :(

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Religion

I figure I better make a comment about this and get it out in the open before people are thinking things about me that are true.

I don't believe in organized religion and I don't believe there is a god. I know that some people will pity me, but that's ok for them to. A long time ago I had a life threatening ailment. It took probably the best year of my high school life and I never quite recovered from it. Anyway, at that point in my life I decided that if there was a god, then I wouldn't have randomly contracted this ailment in the first place (which is what is was...random, doctors couldn't figure out why/how it happened). Of course you could argue that it was him who made it so I didn't die, but I call BS on that because I pulled through it myself.

so there you have it, you will probably judge me differently, but if you do, well then we might not have been friends in the first place. Believe me, I have no problems whatsoever with people who believe there is a god, but the minute you try and push those beliefs on me, then we'll rumble. ;)

World of Warcraft

It's addicting and fun. I have been playing for a couple months now and it's great to play with your friends. Here is a list of my characters if you are ever on my server.

Uther - Girard - lvl 43 Rogue - Mining/Engineering
Dunemaul - Earnhardt - lvl 17 Warrior - Skinning/Herbalism (go go gatherer)

This was my first MMORPG and up until this game, I have always scoffed at people who played them. I eat my words. Marnie even has a Warrior on Uther.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Babies

First off, if this applies to you, I'm sorry, I don't intentionally mean to offend anyone. Wow, it only took four posts before a controversial entry.


So, it's spring time and that means that everyone and their freaking brother is pregnant. Dont' get me wrong, I'm happy for each individual family and I wish them long life. But I'm more bitter than happy for them. Marnie and I won't be able to have children of our own flesh and blood. Up until these past couple years, that didn't really bother me because I just saw kids as an additional burden on your life. Yep, I'm shallow, but hey, this is my blog. It would be fine if it was "hey, so and so is pregnant" and congratulations were in order and that would be that. But couple that with people that send out mass emails and then compound that with people that don't know how NOT to reply all (which is another bitch of mine, but that is for a different post). So not only do I get reminded that I won't have a flesh and blood son of my own, but I get reminded another 20 freaking times in the same day in the span of about two hours. What can I say, just more bitter that adds up and doesn't help the depression any.

And then to make matters worse, when we go out we see these families with 3 and 4 kids each and yet, they look/act/talk like they can barely handle 1. Further proof, that there is no such thing as god.

My Top 100 Movie List

I will keep this updated when I see movies that I think should be on here. This is a list of my top 100 favorite movies of all time.

1 The Fifth Element
2 Rounders
3 Ocean's Eleven (2001)
4 My Blue Heaven
5 A Night of the Roxbury
6 Varsity Blues
7 Hudson Hawk
8 Blazing Saddles
9 Usual Suspects
10 Demolition Man
11 GI Joe - The Movie
12 Transformers: The Movie
13 Fast and the Furious
14 Top Gun
15 Star Wars
16 Office Space
17 Starship Troopers
18 12 Monkeys
19 Ferris Buehler's Day Off
20 Fight Club
21 A View to a Kill
22 The Breakfast Club
23 Cruel Intentions
24 History of the World Part 1
25 Gone in Sixty Seconds
26 The Rock
27 Beverly Hills Cop 2
28 Shawshank Redemption
29 Bad Boys
30 Aliens
31 Raiders of the Lost Ark
32 Matrix
33 Empire Strikes Back
34 Die Hard 2
35 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
36 Predator
37 Rush Hour
38 Jurassic Park
39 Grease
40 Back to the Future
41 Rambo - First Blood Part II
42 Fellowship of the Ring
43 Ghostbusters
44 Spaceballs
45 The Karate Kid
46 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
47 Major League
48 Conan the Destroyer
49 Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
50 Bull Durham
51 Robocop
52 Boogie Nights
53 Goonies
54 Mallrats
55 MIB
56 Star Trek: First Contact
57 The Wizard of Oz
58 Total Recall
59 Armageddon
60 Big
61 Independence Day
62 Weekend at Bernies
63 Big Trouble in Little China
64 Se7en
65 Shrek
66 Back to the Future II
67 Beverly Hills Cop
68 Rocky
69 Gremlins
70 Urban Cowboy
71 Mission Impossible
72 WarGames
73 Return of the Jedi
74 Clerks
75 Die Hard
76 Coming to America
77 American Pie
78 Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
79 Moulin Rouge
80 Super Mario Bros.
81 Monster's Inc.
82 Beetlejuice
83 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
84 Dogma
85 Judgement Night
86 Rain Man
87 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
88 Con Air
89 Rocky Horror Picture Show
90 A Christmas Story
91 Forest Gump
92 Wild Wild West
93 Stargate
94 Alien III
95 Romeo + Juliet
96 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Movie
97 Chicago
98 Beverly Hills Cop 3
99 Back to School
100 The Big Lebowski

Happy B-day

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Marnie, Happy birthday to you.


My lovely wife's birthday is today. She is slightly older than me, but I don't hold it against her. I have to find something nice to get her today. I always try and do events big and be romantic. Most of the time I succeed, the rest of the time I fail miserably.

First Post

FIRST!!!!

Ok, so I set up a blog, gawd i'm such a freaking sheep.