Look at me! I'm a winner!

Alright, if I get one more email from somebody inviting me to join MySpace, I'm probably going to shoot somebody. It's not going to happen. Why exactly do I hate MySpace? Many reasons. First off, every single page makes my brain want to bleed. This occurs due to the unholy combination of terrible design (every MySpace page looks like it was designed as part of an 8th grade computer class...back in 1994. Seriously. Though my 8th grade webpage looked better than that shit.) coupled with a terrible void of intellect in the majority of the writing. Some of the stuff that people write actually terrifies me - these morons are someday going to be decision-makers in our society. For the most part, all these MySpace pages are exactly the same. Some kitchy photo, a brief list of their favorite bands, movies, and books (ha! as if people read now days) and all this is usually followed up with some mindless drivel that I have to strain my brain to comprehend. That, mixed with an amusing attempt to get people to love them by writing a description that portrays themselves as cool as humanly possible (in terribly broken English, mind you.)

I really don't get the "networking" aspect of it either. Apparently there are people out there who try to have as many "friends" as possible - like it's some kind of contest. To be fair, Facebook has this same problem. Every once in a while somebody I don't remotely know wants me to be their friend - and I'll just ignore them. I don't get the "Pokemon" mentality of some Facebook and MySpace users, the desire to "catch 'em all" and have seemingly 400+ friends. Nobody in the world has 400+ friends. You might have 400+ acquaintences, but you sure don't have 400+ friends. I know I sure as hell don't. I suppose those people are just crying out for attention. I think there's a term for that now: "MySpace Whore". Big Daddy's in Tallahassee even sells T-Shirts with that slogan. Fitting.



As somebody said on Fark.com, "Nothing quite reverses the feminism movement than giving young females the ability to talk and post pictures." Seriously. Now I'm not being sexist - young males probably shouldn't have that right either. I look back at some of the things that I said (in yearbooks, chats, etc) and drew back in my younger years, and now a decade later I sure as hell wouldn't want that out on the web for the rest of the world to see. When you're young, you're stupid(er), and nobody needs to hear your stupid thoughts. We know you're chock full-o-angst and that your parents just don't get you. Oh and school sucks too. And that boy in 3rd period Spanish is hot. We really don't care. Granted MySpace hasn't become the whine-fest that LiveJournal is, it's still bad enough for this guy to stay the hell away.

Some have tried to tell me the merits of MySpace. It helps you network. It helps you meet new people. It helps you get laid. Good for you then. I'll still stay the hell away. I have no problem with MySpace existing because let's face it, I'd rather have all the idiots grouped together neatly in one place - that way the ease of avoiding said idiotia is simple, just stay away from that one place. Just don't keep inviting me to join, or asking me to look over your profile.

Oh, and I found this an amusing read: The Truth about MySpace

[Side note: due to some creative efforts on my part, I'm now the owner of a 2gb black iPod Nano. Net cost to me: $7. Details to come.]

The Clicking of the Heels

New year has come and gone, and the new season of television has been unleashed upon us, the unsuspecting viewers. So what am I watching?

Monday: I don't think anything good is on. Find something else to do. (I've been watching stuff on my Xbox - see the list below.) I'll watch Arrested Development when/if they put it back on the air. What a terrible waste, letting that show die.
Tuesday: Gilmore Girls (WB) at 8p, Scrubs (NBC) at 9p, Love Monkey (CBS) at 10p
Wednesday: Lost (ABC) at 9p, South Park (COM) at 10p, Drawn Together (COM) at 1030p
Thursday: My Name is Earl (NBC) at 9p, The Office (NBC) at 930p, Distraction (COM) at 1030p
Friday: Numb3rs (CBS) at 10p

Weekdays (if I'm around): Jim Rome is Burning (ESPN) at 430p, Around the Horn (ESPN) at 5p, Pardon the Interruption (ESPN) at 530p, The Daily Show (COM) at 11p, The Colbert Report (COM) at 1130p

And during the week, shows like Iron Chef, Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Mythbusters, and other greats are TiVo'd at all odd hours of the day so I've got filler in the crappy time slots, or (more likely) to watch on my slower days.

Also, I make heavy use of bittorrent and Xbox Media Center to watch some older shows that I haven't gotten a chance to see. Currently I'm in the middle of Fox's brief series "John Doe", as well as a few other older shows. "Firefly" is another classic that most of us missed when it ran.

I've been getting heavy use out of my Nintendo DS lately. I raided a local used video games shop and picked up three more titles: Feel the Magic XY/XX, Super Mario 64 DS, and Nintendogs. Yes, I bought Nintendogs. You know what? It's one hell of a game. Sure it might just be a pet simulation, but you really can find yourself coming to care for the well being of something that's nothing more than 1s and 0s. Brilliant AI programming on Nintendo's part. Feel the Magic is a pretty good proof-of-concept for how to use the second screen and the microphone well. Mario 64 plays great, but the control is a little iffy - I much prefer using an analog stick versus the thumb stylus on the touchpad.

The more I listen to Sufjan Stevens' album "Illinois", the more I realize just how incredible a piece of art it is. Now I love the hell out of the Death Cab album, but there are some things on "Illinois" that just slay me. Track #3, "Come On Feel the Illinoise!" is an incredible example of how to put two songs into one with a good, coherent bridge. The first half, "The World's Columbian Exposition" is light and poppy, is followed by an excellent bridge and concludes with "Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream", a darker yet still intensely melodic song all into itself. This bleeds into what I think is the most incredible track on the album, #4 - "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", a song about the serial killer. It's phenomenally beautiful. The part where he sings "Oh my God...are you one of them?" at the end of the first verse - that bit always raises the hairs on the back of my neck. But from opening to ending, it's hard for me to find fault in this album. While the "hit" track "Chicago" might be my least favorite, it's still a good track. Buy this album. I have. Twice now.

I'm still halfway through Eternal Darkness on my Gamecube. I knew this would happen if I didn't finish it during the break - I'd get too busy with school and work that I just wouldn't make the time to finish it up. Damn. I was almost done too.

Speaking of school, this is the big semester - not from a class perspective, but because of that behemoth of a test lurking on April 22nd. I just went and registered for it, and other than the 14,000 question opinion poll they give during the registration, it wasn't too bad. I really hope I get my #1 choice [FSU] and don't have to drive somewhere to take it [#2 choice is Jacksonville U] - I had to drive to Panama City for the SATs way back in the day, and that sucked. I know I'll be drained as hell after that test and a 2.5 hour drive to cap off a long day is NOT how I want to spend my Saturday night. I do feel excited though - it's just another check in a box on that long list of things to do until I get to actually treat patients.

Proof of Retarsion

Today I finally broke down and purchased a domain name. I now am the owner of Retarsia.com (which will hopefully be set up to redirect here by the end of the week) - and in order to celebrate this, I've renamed this blog. I got tired of people trying to prounce the name instead of just spelling out the letters (it was an abbreviation, people!) so now the name of this blog appropriately is The Kingdom of Retarsia.

So you're asking: Matt, what is Retarsia? It's the land where retarsion runs rampant. Retarsion, by definition, is an extremely advanced form of stupidity. Sometimes, retarsion can prove fatal. Hope that's cleared up.

Normally I'm not huge on just posting links to web-tests or personality quizzes (almost 2 years and I'm happy I never put a "WHAT KIND OF LIGHTLY SALTED PRETZEL ARE YOU?" type quiz on this page), but I came across a really fun and challenging quiz on a Mensa website today: http://www.mensa-test.com/ Apparently a score of 1-5 is average, 11-18 is intelligent, and 19+ is "genius" - which I think is a little iffy. I mean, you're calling people a genius based on their ability to figure out some phrases? Regardless, it's some good fun. I managed 31 of them after about an hour - it's a killer test. So go do it, have fun, and if you check the comments I'll post the answers.

Best Albums of 2005

2005 was yet another great year for music. While it wasn't a good year for rap, indie rock sure picked up the slack. The race for #1 was quite possibly a 3 way tie, but I tried my best to sort them out since I'm not a big fan of ties. The list this year began with 121 albums, but I've put my favorite 25 below:

Here's a finetune playlist to get you started. It's got some of the tracks from albums in this list, just a little something to listen to while you read:



Okay, on to the list.

25. Frequent Flyer - The Soft Targets
Reflections: Here's a great album from a local (Tallahassee) band. These guys are of the indie rock flavor and manage to blend some good lyrics and good instrumentation. You can listen to this entire album at the Soft Targets' website. Give it a shot.
Best tracks: A Mere Oversight, Singing's For The Birds

24. The Understanding - Röyksopp
Reflections: Admittedly I haven't been big on electronic music (except Air) since the mid 90s, but that's mainly because it all sounds the same to me. Röyksopp's sophomore album breaks that stereotype. Dark and very vocal, it's more than mindless beats arranged together to make some MDMA abusing 16-year-olds trip around some club - this is solid, melodic music.
Best tracks: Triumphant, What Else Is There?

23. A River Ain't Too Much To Love - Smog
Reflections: I was taken aback when I fired up the first track of this CD - not so much by the beautiful music but by the depth of lead singer Bill Callahan's voice. Listening to this album makes me picture myself sitting alone in a cabin deep in the woods, just thinking about life. It's an intelligent and deeply introspective album, a very quiet one but not at all fragile. This is solitude bottled up and presented in CD form.
Best tracks: Palimpsest, Rock Bottom Riser, Let Me See The Colts

22. Arular - M.I.A.
Reflections: This is easily the highest energy record that I've heard in a long time. She blends what feels like a hundred different styles of music (ranging from Jamaican dancehall to British techno to American rap) and ends up with a style completely unique. Sometime the results are great, sometimes the songs get a little repetitive. Overall, an extremely interesting disc
Best tracks: Bucky Done Gun, Pull Up The People

21. Demon Days - Gorillaz
Reflections: For what was supposed to be a gimmicky side project, Gorillaz have put out some pretty good tracks in the past few years. This album is better than their first, it just feels more complete and coherent. Sure it's a bit edgy and different, but some of the things that Damon Albarn and company do here are just incredible. They managed to make club-worthy rock songs.
Best tracks: Feel Good Inc., Kids With Guns, El Manana

20. Make Believe - Weezer
Reflections: Finally, Weezer (partially) rights the ship. This album is no Pinkerton or Blue, but it is certainly better than Green or Maladroit. Aside from the absolutely hideous first track this album hits many high points, shining points of brilliance that remind me of why I liked Weezer in the first place. This is great pop music, and those of you turned off by the shallowness of Green and Maladroit, come on back. Just skip track #1 and #6.
Best tracks: This is Such a Pity, Haunt You Every Day, Perfect Situation

19. In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
Reflections: I admit that when I first heard of Jack Johnson I wrote him off, grouping him with Dave Matthews and other mindless jam-bands that I just can't stand. Then after hearing some of the old stuff he did with G. Love and Special Sauce back in the day ("Rodeo Clowns", amongst others) I decided to give this album a shot. It's probably the most laid back, chill album I've heard in a long time. Reflects the Hawaiian vibe, that's for sure. "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" is one of my favorite songs of the year.
Best tracks: Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, Good People, Never Know

18. Charge!!! - The Aquabats
Reflections: First off, these guys put on possibly the best live act that I've ever seen in my life. That being said, their music has matured a great deal since I last bought an Aquabats album. This disc has some incredible pop sensibilities - great choruses, solid melodies, hilarious lyrics - and listening to the album just tends to put me in a good mood. It's a fun listen.
Best tracks: Fashion Zombies!, Stuck in a Movie!, Awesome Forces!, Demolition Rickshaw!

17. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - Bright Eyes
Reflections: Hell has indeed frozen over, I've enjoyed a Bright Eyes album. Sure it's whiny, but I just couldn't ignore the beauty of this record. Absolutely incredible lyrics, and even if you can't get past Connor's delicate vocals, you have to admit that the musical landscape he paints is a masterpiece. The stories told through the songs on this album are vivid and a joy to hear.
Best tracks: We Are Nowhere and It's Now, Lua, At the Bottom of Everything

16. I Am a Bird Now - Antony and the Johnsons
Reflections: This is a haunting album. Lead singer Devendra Banhardt's vocals are shaky and vulnerable, yet oddly powerful at the same time. These emotion-filled lyrics coupled with the stunning musical background create a completely new and unforgettable listening experience.
Best tracks: You are My Sister, Hope There's Someone, What Can I Do?

15. Live at Stubb's - Matisyahu
Reflections: Hasidic Reggae. That's how Matisyahu (Matthew Miller) describes his style. At first the thought of a white Jewish guy wailing a la Marley sounds like a terrible idea, but this is far from the truth. Not only does Matisyahu sound incredible from a reggae standpoint, this album is so much more. It's religious praise in Reggae form. Now anybody who knows me knows that me and most religious music don't mix. Listening to this album you can hear the raw passion and devotion that this he has towards his faith and his emotional professions of faith create an almost transcendental experience.
Best tracks: King Without a Crown, Sea to Sea, Chop 'Em Down, Warrior

14. You'll Rebel To Anything - Mindless Self Indulgence
Reflections: The most spastic band in the universe returns for another spectacular rock experience. This album is teeming with energy, bursting at the seams. This is music without an attention span, which sounds like a terrible thing, but the chaotic nature of the rock just adds to the raw energy.
Best tracks: Straight to Video, What Do They Know?, 1989, Tom Sawyer

13. The Bravery - The Bravery
Reflections: New Wave strikes back, but in a good way. This album is filled to the brim with energy, and is one hell of a listen. This is how New Wave is supposed to sound. I managed to catch these guys twice live in 2005, and I would recommend both the CD and the concert to anybody. This is fun, good pop music.
Best tracks: Fearless, An Honest Mistake, Out of Line

12. In The Reins - Iron and Wine / Calexico
Reflections: This album is laid back, folkish in tone, and is absoutely stunning in beauty. The big problem is that it's too short at 6 songs. Sam Beam's trademark vocals are present, but is backed by the band Calexico. This experiment turns out to be an incredible success as Calexico's southwest flavor brings a new character to Sam's lyrics. This album is very laid back, but very much alive. "He Lays in the Reins" needs to be heard by all.
Best tracks: He Lays in the Reins, Sixteen Maybe Less

11. This Weight is a Gift - Nada Surf
Reflections: Nada Surf is back with another incredible disc. This album shows mainly their softer side, but is by no means just emotional drab. Lively from start to finish, this album has great singable pop choruses and verses. This is thinking man's pop music.
Best tracks: Always Love, Do It Again, Your Legs Grow

10. Set Yourself On Fire - The Stars
Reflections: The beginning of this disc is absolute heaven. Sweeping violins, light horns, riffs on a double bass with the soft blow of a harmonica - these set the tone for the grandiose scale of this album. It's diverse, beautiful, and unique. Songs range from near-symphonic songs of love lost to upbeat, light rock songs extolling the joys of love. This is one hell of a disc.
Best tracks: Your Ex-Lover is Dead, Set Yourself on Fire, Ageless Beauty

9. In Case We Die - Architecture in Helsinki
Reflections: I really don't know how to describe this album. My closest guess would be as a "Symphony for the ADD Generation" - it's ridiculously quirky, strange, innovative, and stunningly brilliant. The one thing these guys (and gals) seem to know how to do is to create incredibly poppy songs, songs that you honestly can't get out of your head. I swear I had "It'5!" stuck in my head for a month. Once again a band has brilliantly blended quirky lyrics with stunning instrumentation to create beautiful music. Go to AiH's website and watch the video for "It'5!" - you might not be able to get it out of your head.
Best tracks: It'5!, Wishbone, Do The Whirlwind, Maybe You Could Owe Me

8. Hypnotize - System of a Down
Reflections: The second best hard-rock album of the year, this album was dark and political yet still full of the same energy that SoaD is known for. This is hard rock, but not for idiots. I have to hand it to SoaD, they've mastered their craft. This album actually made be go back and listen to 2001's "Toxicity" which I've also fallen madly for.
Best tracks: U-Fig, Kill Rock and Roll, Holy Mountains, Lonely Day, Soldier Side

7. Twin Cinema - The New Pornographers
Reflections: This album is an artistic showcase of how one band can masterfully mix up their styles at the drop of a hat. On one hand you've got "The Bleeding Heart Show" which could be one of the most beautiful and emotional songs I've heard in years, and on the other you've got tracks like "Use It" which is a lighthearted pop masterpiece. All of this is tied together by the anchor of the album, the final track "Stacked Crooked" which is genius wrapped in more genius. From the minor opening refrains to the intense breakdowns, the final track is easily the best final track on a CD since Bad Religion's "Cease". This is a must-own album, it's got something for everybody.
Best tracks: The Bleeding Heart Show, Stacked Crooked, The Jessica Numbers, Use It

6. Kingwood - Millencolin
Reflections: Somehow Millencolin manages to keep one-upping themselves. In Kingwood they've created another punk rock masterpiece, their finest work to date. Every song screams with the energy that a good punk track should have, but that energy is harnessed by the driving harmonies and verses. Every single track is a winner, and this album is one of those albums that I use to get myself up for an occasion. You really need to listen to this album, especially if you either like punk or anything that Millencolin's put out in the past.
Best tracks: Ray, Novo, Birdie, Simple Twist of Hate

5. Mezmerize - System of a Down
Reflections: The first of two albums put out by SoaD in 2005, this one was the heavyweight. Every single track was incredible. Every single track bursts with energy that I haven't seen in hard rock in years. This album is a rock and roll masterpiece plain and simple. Listen to "B.Y.O.B" and you'll understand.
Best tracks: B.Y.O.B., Sad Statue, Question!, Revenga, Cigaro, but really they're all just spectacular

4. Woman King - Iron and Wine
Reflections: This is a seven song EP, but since every single song was a work of art I couldn't ignore it. Better than the spectacular "Our Endless Numbered Days", Iron and Wine continue on their path of greatness. The second track, "Jezebel", is the most beautiful song I've heard this year - so beautiful that even people just in passing who I've played this song for have literally stopped what they were doing just to listen. This EP is powerful, brilliant, beautiful, and for the price you pay for it, worth every penny.
Best tracks: Jezebel, Woman King, Gray Stables

3. Illinois - Sufjan Stevens
Reflections: I was a big fan of Sufjan's tribute to Michigan a couple years back, but in his album about Illinois he's really upped the musical ante. I guess since there's "art-rock" and "math-rock" out there that it's fair to label Sufjan as "history-rock". The stories he tells are second to none but the folk nature of the album is in no way an obtrusive factor. This is beautiful music on a grand scale, complete with violins and choirs and the like. One critic described Sufjan's music as "soulful folk epics" which is an apt way of putting it. Not calling this the #1 album of the year was a very, very close call. It's easily in my all-time top 10. Buy this album, support music with thought behind it. It's sad to think that musical genius like this won't sell nearly as well as an album put out by the little sister of a decent singer. Yes, that was a shot at you, Ashlee Simpson.
Best tracks: They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!, Chicago, Decatur, or a Round of Applause for your Stepmother, John Wayne Gacy Jr.

2. Picaresque - The Decemberists
Reflections: This album is pure gold. I value song's ability to tell a story, to make the listener feel emotion. The Decemberists are masters of both and intertwine them so skillfully and beautifully that you can't help but love the hell out of them. This album, their 3rd full-length, just shows that they know how to refine their craft and make it better. "The Mariner's Revenge Song" is the musical equivelent of a three-act play - I've never heard a song so grand in scale and epic. "From My Own True Love" is a harrowing story of love lost at sea and one man's choking emotions. "Eli, The Barrow Boy" is one of the saddest songs I've ever heard in my life, but is beautiful because you can really feel the love and emotion through the lyrics. I really can't say enough about how mindblowingly good this album is. For the musically literate out there, this is perfection.
Best tracks: Eli, The Barrow Boy, The Sporting Life, The Mariner's Revenge Song

1. Plans - Death Cab for Cutie
Reflections: Whatever Ben Gibbard's been doing, he needs to keep doing it. This album is stunning. From the opening organ of "Marching Bands of Manhattan" through the end of "Stable Song" you're just taken aback by how precisely melodic and perfect every single note is. Every sound is near perfection. "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" is to me the most beautiful love song ever written - it speaks of a devotion that most of us can only dream about. The repeating choruses at "Different Names for the Same Place" are so complex yet beautiful that they almost seem simple. Everybody really should listen to this album by whatever means possible. I've got this phenomenal disc at #2 all-time for me. It's that good.
Best tracks: I Will Follow You Into The Dark, Soul Meets Body, Summer Skin, What Sarah Said

Go back to the main page or on to 2006

PSP Madness

Since I've not touched my PSP since I picked up Mario Kart DS, I figured I'd give some of the latest games a shot. So here's what I think about the latest crop of PSP releases. Since I hate the arbitrary scoring done by most gaming publications (since when is 7/10 a "low" score?) all of my future gaming reviews will be on the following scale (from lowest to high):

Absolutely F'ing Terrible
Nothing Spectacular
Somewhat Enjoyable
Hot Shit

Now that we've got that established, it's on to

Go! Sudoku: Now I enjoy Sudoku puzzles, but this to me lacks one huge feature in the ability to put multiple numbers in a box at a time while you're trying to work out what numbers go where. The backgrounds and music are pretty but I honestly thought this just sucked. Want Sudoku on the go? Then buy a book. Or print out some from WebSudoku. Or if you really need to play it on your PSP, go download the pretty decent (and very free) homebrew, Chau Le's Sudoku 2.0 for the PSP.
Rating: Nothing Spectactular

Infected: Dubbed the first real shooter for the PSP this game pretty much bored the shit out of me. Whee, lots of zombies. Shoot them. And again. And again and again. I didn't play this multiplayer because nobody I know owns this terrible game (and only one person I know even has a PSP) and I'm not sure I would want to inflict this bore-fest on anybody else anyway. Sure it got good ratings, but I just couldn't see any value in this game.
Rating: Absolutely F'ing Terrible

Need For Speed Most Wanted 5-1-0: First off, I love racing games. Second, I don't give a flying shit about tricking out my car in said games. I hate that crap in real life so in a game I hate it even more. No, I don't want to put 24" wheels and a 200 pound spoiler with some bitchin' neon and some sweet ass tear-away graphics on my brand spankin' new Ford Taurus. I want a car that's not a piece of shit. Past the crappy whole-premise-of-the-game of customization, the racing aspect isn't bad. It's probably a bit too realistic for me, to tell the truth. After a few races I was still putting my crappy car into walls on seemingly every turn. One thing I will give NFSMW510 (that's a mouthful) is that it's by far the prettiest game I've seen on the PSP to date. Not half bad, but not the best thing out there.
Rating: Nothing Spectacular

Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play: Compilations usually suck, but this one was a pleasant surpise. Packed full of good games (Toobin', Gauntlet, Rampage, MK1-3 are my personal favorites) and they're perfect clones of the arcade. This is a welcomed blast from the past. I know it's not original content, and just another cheap way for Midway to cash in once again on the games they made popular decades ago, but it's still a good collection. Now if I could only find somebody to port "The Grid" to some console, I would be hella happy. Guess MAME will have to do.
Rating: Somewhat Enjoyable

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories: I hate GTA games because they're mindless. I very quickly tire of the "story" that these games have and after an hour of driving around and shooting shit I'm done. Sure the gameplay is open-ended and there's lots of things you can do and oh yeah, it's a pretty looking game. That means all of jack to me because in the end, these games just aren't fun to me.
Rating: Nothing Spectacular

Madden NFL 06: This plays a lot like those old NFL Gameday games that 989 put out on the PlayStation 1. This game is well, a hack job. The whole save-a-season feature with the PS2 is cool but for the vast minority of people like me who don't have a PS2, it's useless. Somebody likes this game, but I'm not one of them. If I'm playing a football game, at least make it an NCAA game.
Rating: Absolutely F'n Terrible

Prince of Persia: Revelations: I was a huge fan of The Sands of Time and its follow-ups, and this game is somewhat fun, but I really wasn't taken in by the story like I was in the Sands of Time. Control is good (though I don't like the camera) and it looks great, but in the end it's just another mediocre platformer.
Rating: Nothing Spectacular

A friend of mine recently asked which portable system to get. I have both and at this point in their lives when I look at where each console is headed, there's a clear winner: the DS. The PSP has a bunch of pretty yet boring, typical games. The DS is at least starting to show signs of brilliance as developers start to understand how to utilize the other screen. Am I a fanboy? Oh hell no. I actually bought the PSP over a DS when it came out because I was so impressed by the hardware. A year later and I have truly only played 3 "great" games on the PSP: THUG2, Burnout Legends, and Virtua Tennis. The homebrew/emulator scene make the PSP worth keeping, but the media playing options are just something I don't use. So my suggestion? If you already have an mp3 player, then definitely buy a DS.

Come on PSP developers. Get your shit together and make me feel like I didn't blow $250 on an ergonomic looking turd.

Strangeness!

So I fire up Blackboard (FSU's campus website for class material) and what in the hell do I see but Deuce staring right back at me:



Weird thing was after I followed the link to his "story", this image came up:



What the hell?

Living up to the Hype

First off, three new photo albums have been put up: this year's New Years party at the beach, my trip to Destin to see Elise and Jean, and the Festivus party at Bunch's pad before Christmas. Good times were had by all, and I got to go the beach twice in December. Who loves Florida?

Now that we're past that, let's talk bowling (of the NCAA Football variety). The Emerald bowl was one of the most disappointing bowls I've ever watched in my life. I watched my superior Yellow Jackets just lay down and let Utah walk all over them. When GT didn't make a play, the players didn't even look distraught. Nobody cared. After such an up and down season I think the players just felt slighted about not being selected to a better bowl - but that's still no reason for the team to just not give a crap about the game at all. That's not fair to us, the fans.

The Orange Bowl was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I thought PSU would have their way with FSU, but the FSU defense really showed up and came to play. Neither team could play offense or kick worth a damn, but the game was still dramatic and a lot of fun to watch though I would've preferred a different outcome.

The Rose Bowl was easily the best college football game I've ever watched. When USC went up 12 late in the 4th, I had to think they had it wrapped up. I for one admit that I vastly underestimated Vince Young. That guy was absolutely ridiculous last night - all of his passes were spot on, he picked the perfect times to rush, and he made a two-time defending champion look like a bunch of JuCo players at times. If he doesn't go pro now when I imagine his stock is at an all-time high, then he's nuts. But then again, it's his life and not mine. I was extremely happy to see Texas win because I couldn't stand the media slurp-fest that USC was getting. Down with Cali!

While in Destin, Elise and I went and saw The Producers which I admit, I loved. Some idiots walked out after about 15 minutes mumbling "it's a musical?" OF COURSE IT'S A MUSICAL. What in the hell do people think Tony awards are for? How many big Broadway plays aren't musicals? Morons. Lane and Broderick were hilarious, and Will Ferrell's character was amazing.

Fun With Dick and Jane was better than I thought it was going to be. Jim and Téa were both hilarious and it was worth the price of admission. If you get a chance to see this in a cheap theater or a rental, do it.

Recently the extremely bizarre happened: I actually read a book! HP Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu" - granted it was a pretty short story, I always wanted to read some of Lovecraft's work. It delivered to my expectations - it was as creepy and dark as I had heard. Good read.

School starts back next Monday, and it'll be nice to have something to do. I'm going stir-crazy in the house.