It won't be that Bad!

I got some absolutely awesome news earlier this week. I will be getting, probably the best present for my birthday in the past couple years. My older sister, Heather, is coming to visit for my birthday in a couple weeks. I can't wait, I'm absolutely giddy. I miss her and we always seem to have a good time together. We have a lot of similar interests, most that Marnie and I don't necessarily share. She is here for the whole weekend and I'm hoping to hit a lot of tourist spots. One important one is Hollywood. I haven't been there since I was a little kid and I want to go and appreciate the chinese theatre as well as the walk of fame.

This is going to rock@

Pacino and DeNiro

Righteous Kill

Trailer

It has Fity in it, but I don't think that's going to hurt the movie any. I am interested in seeing this. Both of these actors (Pacino/DeNiro) are older but look like they can still bring the badass to the screen. It's also a nice break to see DeNiro be a tough guy in a good tough guy film, instead of another Focker movie.

My time to Shine!

See, Marnie may wreck me up one side of the street and down the other with Singstar 80s, but I picked up what can only be described as "in my wheelhouse".



The gauntlet has been thrown.

Yea postapocolyptic movie!

I had today off, so I figured I would go and catch a movie (peferrably one that Marnie won't see). I found that I hadn't seen Doomsday yet and I love the postapocalyptic movie genre. I like to see how each person would intrepret the death/destruction and what sort of virus was responsible for destroying mankind.

This time it was the Reaper virus and it originated in Scotland (poor Sean Connery). I enjoyed this movie for what it was. It was a great Sci-fi flick with a hot chick lead, plenty of madmax-ish villains, awesome vehicle chases/explosion, guns, TnA, and awesome awesome camera angles.

I'm a big fan of the new bullet camera technology that has come about since the Matrix. There were plenty of scenes where the camera wrapped around a vehicle and gave great angles at what appeared to be a high speed. I think all the actors/actresses gave it their all and I loved Soran. That man always plays a great bad guy.

I think that this movie may make my top 100 because I think it had everything that I could ask for in a postapocalyptic movie. If you want some mindless fun, I suggest checking it out. The trailer for The Strangers was pretty freaking freaky, I don't think I'd be able to watch that movie, way to much suspence.

Props to Mike Clark

I totally forgot something from my trip to Arizona. I would like to take this time to send out a personal thank you to Mike Clark for picking up the tab at Buca di Beppo. You really stepped up and showed what a good friend you are.







....BAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. Grats for losing the credit card game sucka. Free food tastes so much better!

Girard's Trip to AZ Extravaganza 03/08

I got to go on a mini vacation over this past weekend. Spent 3.5 days in AZ and it was a blast. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get to see everyone that I should have. The life of a rockstar game designer is pretty demanding.

Marnie and I arrived late Thursday night and we were staying with my sister-in-law for 3 nights and then getting a hotel Sunday night.

On Friday, we did a little shopping. I was able to go visit with my Dad (who I miss very much). It was fun hanging out with him and getting to hear his stories. I do hope that he writes his book, I very much want to read it. Colleen looks very good, she has gotten a lot healthier and will look amazing for the wedding. Saw Meghan and see is excited about the upcoming wedding. I have to put a lot of thought into her gift. I want to get her and Justin something memorable and not just another blender.

Saturday was spent with "mah crew". We hit the Man Show. It was pretty good. I was unimpressed by most of the vendors (infinite time share booths, only 1 and a half booths with babes). There is a video that needs to be posted about someone getting stuffed full of electricity. The amount of schwag was also disappointing. Still had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures. Went and played pool at a bar. Almost beat Clark a couple times, I think he was point shaving though. Next stop was Buca diBeppo where we picked up Bahr for the crew. Smashed three large orders, 1 small, a garlic mashed potatoes and a couple of meatballs. Definitely full and had a lot of fun. Here is a picture of "mah crew".



Sunday was spent with the family. My niece had her first bday party. It was fun and all the kids seemed to have a blast. We were worried that the weather was going to ruin it, but it didn't end up raining, which was nice. Got to see some old aquintances as well. Stayed at the San Marcos Resort Sunday night and that was nice. The car ride was long, but seemed shorter going back (probably cause it was during the day and not at night).

News and Notes -

- Don't play Truth or Dare (mostly Truth) with your significant other on long car rides
- Don't go 55 over a cattleguard, it will start a fight
- Don't underestimate how much stuff you can get off the neutral AH for 1c
- Getting old sucks
- My niece and nephew are cool and my niece loves me
- The Canucks house is pretty nice
- Didn't get to hit a strip club or casino, pretty bummed about that.

Also, for your viewing pleasure -

At least it was online

So sunday I hunkered down and went through my online driver's safety course. I had to complete a course by 3/19 if I didn't want the points to show up on my record and have my insurance shoot through the roof.

This is the second time in my life that I have done one of these to not have points on my record. The first time was in Arizona and 8 hours in a class with a bunch of dumb people was boring. This time I tried the online direction. It was $25 or so and I paid the upgraded shipping to make sure it got here this week before I returned to the valley of the sun this weekend.

It said that it would take around 8 hours. I thought to myself, "there's no way, it's a self paced tool." Luckily I was right, I finished in just under 5 hours. I probably went through it slower than I needed to. There were 8 sections, about 4-6 subsections in each section and then about 9-11 pages in each subsection. There is a quiz at the end of each section in which you need to get 10 out of 10 to move on. If you miss any, they review the answer with you and you get to take the quiz again (different questions the next time through). There was a quiz at the end in which you needed 80% to pass. 25 questions, I got an 88%. I missed some stupid numbers question (how many people were killed as a result of drunk driving in 2005, When you have to move off the shoulder, what should you do? I answered turn on your brights, the correct answer was be wary of tall dry grass...riiiiight. I can't remember what the third question I got wrong was). So I got that taken care of, won't get those 5 hours back, thank goodness I could watch TV while doing it.

Interesting tidbit -
They no longer recommend the 10-2 position on a steering wheel. The new hotness is 8-4. This does a couple things. It prevents your arms from getting tired, it helps to prevent arm injury in an accident (because you have a tendency to lock up your elbows when they are extended), and it helps facilitate the push/pull turning action. I'm not convinced.

As if the next couple weeks aren't going to be bad enough...

So Ken and I went to the batting cages on Friday. We have to go to Boomers because the other place closed down (after we went once). Boomers is a miniature golf course, bumper boats, batting cage, laser tag type place.

Anyway...

So after hitting the john, I'm walking back through the lobby area out towards the batting cages and I hear, from some teeny bopper behind me

"Well, we'd be out there already if this old guy in front of us would move quicker"

...

I should have said something, but I just continued to walk...almost numb. She was over half my age, but well, yea, I'm going to be 30 on April 4th. :( Where did time go?

I miss my sister

This is my sister Heather, her husband Christopher, and my niece Chloe (not sure if there is an accent mark or not). This was us at the first Star Wars Celebration (held in Denver, can't remember the year). I think this was the first time that my sister was exposed to what would eventually end up being my career. I was demoing Young Jedi at the convention. She was bright eyed and had a big smile on her face. She is probably the second most important person when it comes to my career (the first being Marnie, because well, she has put up with everything). My sister was the first to teach me how to play Magic:the Gathering all those years ago. I remember losing to her the first few times, but being ultra competitive I had to get better at the game (because, well you know, I couldn't let my sister beat me at anything). I did get better, but I always enjoyed playing her. She enjoys the game on a very innocent level. She's not competitive (I mean, I'm sure she likes to win, but it's not the be all end all for her), she loves to play the game honest, and most of all, she like to play for fun. If only every player in the industry was more like my sister.

I also have to say that out of all my family members, I think she is the one that has stuck by me the most. I know that I wasn't the best brother growing up, but everytime I talk to her she always tells me that she is proud of me. That always brings a smile to my face. She is the one that most supported me (out of my family) when it came to my career choice and she always seems excited to hear about my job. I love my sister and I really need to go visit her.

N er gee

So they are trying to balance out my new meds (from the incident back in November). I'm back on anti-ADD medication, a mood stabilzer, and an anti-depressant. The mood stabilizer is new and my shrink said that he has had great success with it and eventually I won't need the anti-depressant (which is awesome because it has a side effect that most men won't consider a bad side effect, but I do).

Anyway...

So I am finding myself with a ton more energy. They are gradually increasing my dosage of the mood stabilizer (a side effect is a really really bad rash if you start at a high dosage). I'm up to about 200mg a day of it and for the past week and a half my energy level has been pretty high. I am either hitting the batting cages or playing basketball every day it seems like. I'm in a work league for basketball. I am playing sundays at the local rec center. They run full-short courts (side to side rather than up and down the main court). I'm still having trouble getting up and down the court for the whole 12 minutes, but I am breathing less hard and am not completely exhausted afterwards. Another problem has cropped up though. My body hasn't caught up to the new energy level. A week ago I hyper-extended my right elbow and yesterday I had massive shin-splints and could only go 2 games (rather than the usual 4 games). I did go help some coworkers move into their new house later in the day and wasn't short of energy then.

I think the big thing for me is I'm not making excuses for doing stuff. Before I would say stuff like "that's too much effort" or "it's so far away". Not so much anymore. It's time to get the bike out and get the tires re-inflated. I'm pretty excited. As a side note, I'm eating less now too.

One of my best friends

me and jay webb at Gamer's Edge.

For reference, that suave broski on the left is frenchie and the chick is steph.

You bunch of buffers

Marnie has recently started watching this show on iTunes. She said it's probably one of the funniest shows she has seen in awhile and has nothing but praise for it. She convinced me to start watching it (after we bought the DVDs for Season 1 and she sat through Resident Evil: Extinction with me).

I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying this show. I think the acting is very well done. I like the people I'm supposed to like and I hate the people I'm supposed to hate. The show has some very geniune funny moments and there are also a fair share of heart tugging moments. I haven't cared for Minnie Driver in the past, but I think she's pretty hot and does a good job in this show. Eddie Izzard has always been funny and he brings great comedy to the table in this show.

I'm also very intrigued by the whole traveler philosophy/lifestyle. They have their own set of rules and often break the law. It is interesting to watch how they interact with the buffer lifestyle on a daily basis, especially when the morals conflict with their own beliefs.

Anyway, I think the show is funny and entertaining. I can't wait to finish watching Season 1 (we are heading into the last disk) and Season 2 starts on March 14. It's also nice to see Marnie watching something other than reality crap (Rock of Skank 2 and Flav needs a hootchie 3).

Da Big Shaq Daddy

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this. I'm freaking estatic about the Big Shaq Daddy landing in the valley of the sun. If Kobe hadn't been lights out tonite (sure, the Lakers big three shot 65% from the field), Shaq would have had a great debut. Watching Shaq clog up the lane and Stoudamire scooping up the offensive rebound was pretty. They are still getting used to each other, but I must say, I liked what I saw.

Random Memories

So I was watching VH-1 today (we have it set up for the TV to turn on as a backup alarm) and a video came on. It was a couple that sang the song from the movie Once. I don't know who they are, however, one thing stuck with me.

The dude playing his guitar has the freaking guitar strings not cut at the end of his guitar. They are just dangling there, looking totally unkept. I remember when my sister, Heather, told me that this sort of thing pissed her off and I tend to agree. It pissed me off this morning to no end.

I can die a happy man now

Well, it finally dropped. I lost count around 32 or so successful attempts at Chess, but the damned King's Defender finally dropped. My WoW career is complete in my eyes. This is the single most sought after piece that I have been coveting since the expansion came out. It was within reach and easily obtainable, but I just never got it. That is all in the past now, for today I am a real tank.

I'm excited

Watch the Trailer on Yahoo! Movies

In case you missed the announcement

We are doing a new product

WoW Minis

I originally thought that we were going to be hurt by Figureprints coming out, but they are so swamped and slow in getting out their figures, that I think this product won't be hurt by that when it comes to the casual consumer.

Snore Bowl

The commercials were kinda meh. I liked the Victoria's Secret, Bridgestone, Pepsi...i think that was about it.

The game was pretty fun to watch. It was a well played game by both teams and very low penalties. It would have been some heroics for Brady to pull it out, but he didn't.

GG 72 Dolphins.

Sometimes they have quotas to fill

Marnie and I were out and about today, feeling kinda bummed because our internet signal at the new house is pretty weak. They are installing an amplifier this next week, so until then we have to unplug it from the splitter and plug it directly into the wall.

Anyway....

I turn right onto Vista Way as we head to Bed, Bath and Beyond. The jeep is a little sluggish so I give it some gas and as we crest the hill I look in my rearview, guess what I see? Yea, a boy in blue on his bike, giving me the flashers. I pull over, he saunters up on Marnie's side. He's like "Do you know why I pulled you over?" Of course I don't, and well Marnie was a little beside herself. He proceeded to then ask me what the speed limit was. I replied that it was 45 mph. He said it is now, but back by the light it was 40 mph. I apologize and said I thought all of Vista Way was 45 mph (which, I believe the rest of it is, even by the residential portion). He said he clocked me at 55 mph. Marnie about fell out of the jeep. She said that she was pretty sure I wasn't going that fast because she would have yelled at me for going that fast. He then tried to get me for not wearing a seatbelt either.

I explained that I was a large man and that I had to take it off the get the registration out of the glove box. He said he was sure that he didn't see me wearing a seatbelt. He came back with a ticket for the speeding and said that he would let me off with a warning for the seatbelt. Well, Marnie and I were pretty upset at that point, but I just took the ticket and said I would drive safer.

The ticket is $160. I can spend an extra $28 on top of that and go to traffic school to make sure it doesn't go on my insurance. I guess the increase in insurance will be more than $28 so I will go to traffic school.

What was more interesting is that we went back that way after coming back from the store and he had pulled over someone else as well. Interesting...

Relocation

No...I haven't moved to Colorado.

The Mrs. and I relocated to a new abode two days ago. We are still in Oceanside, but we are in a house with a yard now. We are in a semi-duplex with a nice older couple. We share a kitchen, but other than that, we have one whole side of the house to ourselves. The dogs have a front yard and they love it.

If you need to get the address from me, go ahead and send an email to my yahoo account.