Goodbye Moral Orel

For this post, everyone should have the video I linked too in the title playing in the background. The actual video part is pretty stupid, but the song is amazing.

Moral Orel was one of the last stalwarts of truly great program on Adult Swim. It started out slow like most shows tend to do, but during the third season it showed how amazing it could really be. If you haven't seen it, and I'm guessing most of you haven't, watch the episodes on this big wonderful Internet (you should know how to do that) and if you love them as much as you should buy the 1st season DVD and inspire AS to release the rest of the show on DVD. It's amazing what they do with puppets and an 11 minute time frame. Sadly, it's also apparent why the show was canceled as it went into some pretty adult topics, and the entire show is pretty depressing if you can let that kind of thing get you down. It's a parody of religious shows, so that always strung me along the last few years.

It's too bad that the execs at Cartoon Network gave up on it, as it was just about to evolve into an even better show. Still, I'm happy with what I got, and, while I'm no child anymore, it will always have a place in my rapidly diminishing childhood.

Happy Festivus!
-Pudge

Pudge Quickie: Final Resolution 08 is coming!

So I'm going this Sunday to the TNA PPV, and I've decide since I'm going out early in order to guarantee close floor seats, I'm going to entertain myself in line by Twittering and posting pictures if anything interesting happens. Care to follow my adventures on Sunday? No problem, here's the links...

http://twitter.com/needlerfanpudge
http://flickr.com/photos/needlerfanpudge/

Also, all activity will be automatically posted to my Facebook and Friendfeed profiles, located here...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=603931409&ref=profile
http://friendfeed.com/needlerfanpudge

It should be a blast for me, and I hope it keeps you entertained on a lazy Sunday.

Time to go to MY LAST CLASS OF THE SEMESTER
-Pudge

Pudge Quickie: This is why TNA is WWE's Red Headed Stepsister

I am currently watching TNA Impact (all a part of the 6+ hour paper writing process ;) ) and Don West said something that made me go crazy. Let me try to explain to those that don't follow the product.

At Victory Road (A PPV from the Summer), Samoa Joe and Booker T had an extremely violent title bout, where Booker was bloodied and Sting came out to try to tone down the actions of Joe. It was the match that sparked the last 6 months of TNA programming, so it was very important. Then about a month and a half ago Booker introduced his very own Legends Belt, a vanity heavyweight belt.

On tonights Impact, for no apparent reason, Booker put up his Legends title against Samoa Joe. The match was annouced last week, but this week they added the stipulation of a street fight. After an interview where Booker T gives no good reason to make it a Street Fight much less put his title on the line. Then Good Ol' Don West (c) asks why Booker T would ever want to be in a street fight with Joe after Victory Road. I don't know Don? WHY DON'T YOU TELL US!

As I typed this another couple of things came up, and I'm going to post them as well.
-Durring a Promo, the Dudley's said they were 20 time world tag team champs, which means they had to lose the belts 19 times. Sadly for logic, they're not champs now, which means that they lost the belts 20 times
-Durring the super speedy hyping of Final Resolution, they said who will win the Tag Belts and listed the two teams. But one of the teams HAS the belts, so they wouldn't win the belts, they would keep them.

Ug, come on guys. This isn't live, you can at least watch it once and TRY to fix this kind of stuff.

Anyways, after I finish my homework for the night and watch the rest of IMPACT, (probably tomorrow) I'm gonna post another quickie about how you can follow my epic, but not very much hyped (yet) trip to Final Resolution 2008! (It's a TNA PPV, THIS SUNDAY)

P.S.-Just as I finished this post and trying to get back into the show, they brought out a Sarah Palin impersonator and we're expected to believe it's the real deal. COME ON. Sometimes I'm embarrassed I like this stuff. Sometimes

-What was I writing about again?
Pudge

Browser Head to Head: Chrome vs Firefox vs Flock

Browser Head to Head: Chrome vs Firefox vs Flock

This is a good comparison piece between the two big browsers among the technologically literate, as well as one new one that I will be checking out right about...NOW

900-Pound Giant Squid Joins Cast Of 'The View

Hey
I'm feeling silly today. Enjoy

From Digg-NEW YORK—The View, a daytime talk show featuring a panel of women who discuss current events and topical issues, has found its newest cohost—a 53-foot-long giant squid.

read more | digg story

Digg-EA Downplays Spore’s DRM Triggered Piracy Record

Trying to get my feelings back to normal, and it's always good to laugh.

From Digg-Spore, love it or loathe it, Will Wright’s new game has stayed in the news in the way his previous games have never managed. The game could also bring about big changes in both DRM and copyright law, as the debate heats up over it’s DRM. While EA puts a brave face on things, as a class action suit is filed.

read more | digg story

End of an Era-Toonami's final broadcast

I just can't believe it. After 11 years, Cartoon Network finally canceled Toonami. I'm crying as I type this, because this 3 hour block of cartoons after school meant so much to me as a child. Toonami introduced DBZ to the world, and sparked the anime revolution we live in now. It literally defined me as a child. Long before Zion even existed, this was my happy place, aboard the Absolution watching Gundam, Kenshin, YuYu Hakusho, He Man, Transformers, Astro Boy, and everything else. It was so well put together, and it meant to much to how I developed as a human being. Now, after two years of it being thrown around and 95% Naruto shit, its gone.

TOM gave a speech like he used to on their last broadcast, and someone on YouTube made it into what you imagine it would be, instead of the crappy redesign. Enjoy.


In this increasingly commercial TV landscape, Toonami stood for something. There was a lifestyle there, one that was above and beyond.


Goodbye TOM. I will never forget what you did for me personally and for the world that I live in.

WWE Falls Asleep at the Wheel, or selections from Myspace

Holly Crap. That's all I have to say about the slew of new names that WWE just put out for their developmental talent. Lets review with pictures of the wrestlers with old and new names and see what I'm talking about. Old names on Left, new names on Right

vs
From bad ass to nonsense, at least they had a reason, as he has the same name as his dad. Still, does Afa Jr. really sound that bad?
vs
Yes, Lord Byron will see you now. I feel bad for Kelly Kelly, cause she lost a cousin.
vs
Cause when I think of hot chicks in cowboy hats, the first name that comes to mind is WESLEY. And since Divas lose their last names within the first week of competition, I'm thinking Vince is going for a tranny gimmick.
vs
This guy has a surfer gimmick, and now his last name is that of a cookie. Plus, way to be racially sensitive, I'm sure there are plenty of normal people named Taj.
vs Dolph Ziggler (Pics not out yet)
Yea, I'm sure a guy named Dolph Ziggler is gonna go over gangbusters. With people that make signs that is, there are just so many unique opportunities to make fun of this guy, and he was a male cheerleader once.
vs
Well, considering how much they get paid, I'm glad they actually improved on one of these.
vs
Sebastian. SEBASTIAN!! You cant have a wrestler named after the Jamaican crab from Little Mermaid. Also, why didn't they give the surfer last name to the guy with the SURFER GIMMICK!
vs
Kevin Kiley sounds like a wrestlers name. You know what Carson Oakley sounds like? A damn Farmhand! Unless they're bringing back Trevor Murdoch and he needs a tag partner, this is redikulous.
vs
Where in the world is Damien Santiago? Not over in the WWE, thats for sure.
vs
Is there anything wrong with alliteration. A name like Jones works on a tough guy, especially a boxer. While Tyson is a good name for him, putting nonsense like Tarver after it just generally confuses people in ways that are unacceptable.
vs
Hardy Har Har Dusty. Hardy. Har. Har.
-Pudge

Google Chrome, or the final nail in the coffin for Internet Explorer

Hey,

As I right this, I'm chilling at the Marshall Student Center at USF, enjoying tasty pizza from Sbarros. That's become pretty normal in the last couple of weeks, as I've become adjusted rather quickly to life up here in Tampa (so much so that I didn't even feel the need to post about it before today. It's just so natural). There is one strange thing about this blog post however, and unless you didn't read the title for some reason, you know it that I am posting it from Google's brand new Internet browser, Google Chrome.

Google has long denied that they were going to compete with FireFox and IE8, going so far as to work closely with Mozilla in making the search bar/address bar function for FireFox 3, which helps make it one of the best Internet browsers ever created. But the temptation for Google to control all aspects of the Internet experience was too great, and here we are with a very functional new contender in the browser wars.

As you first load up Chrome, the first thing you see is the minimalist design. Except for the tabs (which are positioned on the top of the window), and the address bar with built in Back, Stop, Reload, etc, the entire window is taken up by the website you are viewing. This makes it seem as if the browser isn't even there, which is perfect for visually heavy sites and long sites such as Myspaces. Where this approach fails is that there is no room for future addons like the ones for FireFox. The status bar pops up at the bottom of the page when a website is loading, and then disappears, leaving the bottom of the web page the bottom of the browser. I couldn't imagine doing heavy browsing without Adblock or Foxytunes, and there is no way to put in visual representation of addons in the browser without losing this minimalist idea. 

Despite this shortcoming, I have been using Chrome for one express purpose, and that is the feature that allows you to create a link to web applications like e-mail or databases that stays on your desktop. When you double click on the shortcut, a version of chrome without even an address bar appears and loads up the application, as if it were installed on your hard drive. This feature alone could drive any poor soul still using Outlook and its ilk to flock to the browser. It is also very helpful for a college student like me, as USF has a couple of applications that are vital to look at every day, but buried in the webpage. With Chrome, I've been able to get one click access to my class schedules and messages from professors, which assures that Chrome will stay on my hard drive for the next four years.

Considering that Chrome is only a week old, and knowing how resourceful Google is, I wouldn't be surprised if Chrome jumps ahead of IE pretty quickly on all but the most unknowing of computer users. I can't see it replacing FireFox, but given a little time, add on support from Google like FireFox has, and a lot of Google loyalists porting the best addons over, I think it might just be close. I'd recommend Chrome to anyone that checks their e-mail often, or someone addicted to a website run game like Battlefield Heroes, but other than that, Firefox still reigns supreme.

-May Internet Explorer find its spot next to Netscape Navigator in the history books

Pudge

FCW Results and Thoughts 8-28-08

Hey,

I'm back at USF and ready to impart my thoughts on my night onto all of you. Well, Ledge, Chris, and that guy from SummerSlam. Lets get to it cause I'm sleepy and I have to wake up at 6:30 tomorrow morn.

Before I start, I have to say the website doesn't do the arena justice. It's very nice for what it is, and its tucked away next to what appeared to be a truck stop. I thought it would have been bigger actually, but once I got in there, it was the perfect size. They don't take credit cards, so after waiting two hours out front, I had to dash over to a Target to get money, but I still got a nice seat. Next time I definately want to sit next to the announcers desk though.

Speaking of the broadcast team, we have a black guy on play-by-play that had no mic time and no intro I remember, so I'll call him Coach 2.0. And on color commentary, WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, who apparently borrowed a robe from Viscera's former closet for tonight, which was a little strange. I don't remember if he wore this back when he introduced his son to WWE, but it looked weird either way.

On to the matches!
1. Scotty Goldman defeated Jack Gabriel
The former Colt Cabana looked really good in this opener, and I really hope they let him break out on Smackdown, cause he can do good stuff in the ring. He did playful spots that outsmarted his opponent, and won clean. He is definitely over with the Tampa crowd, as a Scotty 45 chant hit the arena when they played his music. His opponent had a 50s jacket on, and if I'm not mistaken, I think WWE is training a replacement Domino so Duce can have something to do on Raw.

2. DH Smith defeated "Carnival Freak" Sinn Bowdee
DH Smith is still as boring as he was on Raw those two times he performed, and its a shame, because Sinn has a really good look, and plays well to the camera and crowd. He wasn't given much to do in the ring though, and it seemed like a glorified squash match for Smith. I hope to see more in ring stuff from Sinn in the coming weeks.

3. "Stampede Kid" TJ Wilson defeated Afa
Afa is a big Samoan guy that looks and wrestles like Taz. and thats a good thing. He carries a hook carved out of wood out to ringside with him that reminds me of Kane when he was peddling See No Evil for WWE. He was also really over, with Afa chants and people wearing Carlito Wigs cause he has an afro too. Dusty even slipped one on for the match, and I would have loved to hear the calls at that moment. TJ Wilson was mostly unremarkable, accept for his ring attire, which looks like he got his daughter to make it for him in kindergarten. He has a bull on his trunks and jacket that looks like construction paper. Anyway, Afa was a beast in the ring, but lost to a dropkick by Wilson. After the match, Afa started beating TJ down, and Ryan Braddock came out to help his friend (I'm guessing, maybe its a tag team). TJ escaped, but Afa started pounding on Braddock, then placed his leg on the ring steps and did a running kick into it, causing Braddock to wince in pain. Sadly for him, he had a match next.

4. Drew McIntyre defeated Ryan Braddock
Drew ran in before the ring introductions could complete and pounded Braddock down some more in what should have been a quick squash. Instead, Braddock kept getting up, but never got any offense in, and generally looked like he didn't know what he was doing in the ring, which is the sense I got from him two weeks ago on ECW. Drew finally got him with his finisher, which is a Swinging side slam spun out into a sitout facebuster called the Ego Trip (Thanks Wikipedia!!)

5. "Natural" Nic Nemeth and Gavin Spears retained the Florida Tag Team Titles against The Puerto Rican (That's spelled right!) Nightmares (Primo Colon and Eric Perez)
Primo may have been a little slow on Raw against "Charlito" (facepalm), but together with his tag partner, he was on fire. Gavin Spears didn't seem that impressive to me, but former Spirit Squad member Nic has really improved, and is great in his character. He has gelled back hair, and was rubbing the gel down and then flicking it into the audience as he admired his reflection in the championship belt. This was a nice long match that ended in an interference victory for the champions.

Intermission

Quick story to tell for the intermission. All though the first half of the show, the bell sounded weird, but considering that it was my first FCW show, I just assumed it was the bell they were using. It turned out I was mistaken, as durring the break, an old man came out and showed the young guy at the timekeepers table how to ring the bell effectively. It turns out that he was just clanging it on the top. I guess FCW doesn't just train wrestlers.

7. Miss Angela defeated Daisy to become the official FCW Ring Announcer.
The story behind this match is that Roucka, a Beutiful People type chick, only Spanish, sent Daisy in the ring to beat Miss Angela for her. Daisy was a blonde haired diva with a cowboy hat, but otherwise looked like Kelly Kelly. This was a quick divas match, with Miss Angela getting the pinfall in what seemed like no time at all. After the match, Miss Angela went to the back celebrating her victory, and Roucka got in the ring and said it was a fluke, and started annoucing the next match anyway. Angela came back and whacked her with the microphone, taking back her annoucement duties. Imo, Lupe was the better annoucer, as she had a better voice and was more attractive. Alas, she sulked back to the ring and was not seen again.

8. Vladimir Kozlov defeated Kafu
This was the same match we've seen on Smackdown for the past few months. Kafu looks like Afa, but dresses like Jimmy Snuka, wearing a tiger skin jacket and matching boots. His finisher is a head claw, which was applied to Kozlov once, but quickly shaken off. I think he's going to have to change that finisher if he's going to the main roster, although the tamp crowd seemed into him.

9. Stu Bennet defeated Jon Emminger
Bennet is a heel wrestler from England, and the only way I recognized Emminger on the roster page is his unique tatoo, as he is completely genaric in all other ways. This was a glorified squash for Stu Bennet who elicited a few cheers and gestures from the crowd, but it was mostly apathy from the crowd. Both these guys have a long way to go.

10. Vic Adams defeated (Im guessing) Random Jobber
Ug. By this point, it was getting tedious. There were no unique tatoos this time, so I'm at a loss as to who Vic Adams destoryed. Vic had a few good moves, but this was the third squash match in a row, and after the exciting first half, the boredom was causing people to leave before the two main events. Not a good sign, but the last two matches made up for it.

11. Shamus won a Fatal Four Way for the #1 Contendership of the FCW Title, defeating Tyrone Jones, Gabe Tuft, and Gabe's former tag team partner.
All four guys in this match had promos dispersed across the night, and Gabe's partner (didn't catch his name) was the only one who blew it. He said one sentance, and then Gabe came out and talked to him, so I didn't get a sense for him at all. This was a good match, with all four guys doing good spots. I was really impressed with the finish, with Shamus performing a Sitout Chokebomb on Gabe's partner for the win. It's a great finisher, and any one of these guys look ready for the main roster.

12. Special Main Event-WWE Womens Champion Beth Pheonix and Natalya defeated The Bella Twins.
The Bella Twins had a complicated and unique entrance that made them look together, and also made me interested to see one of them on Smackdown tonight. The Bella Twins put up more of a fight then you would think in this match, including one of them delivering a sick Super hurricanrana on Beth Pheonix. After a few minutes, Beth and Natie took over, and cleaned house. I was dissapointed that Santino didn't come along as well, but I suppose seeing four WWE guys for $10 would be a bit much.

It was a great show, and I'm definately going back every week. It's a lot of wrestling for $10, especially since every seat in the house is ringside. Next week, D-Lo Brown is stopping by, and I'm looking forward to it.

What?
-Pudge

Nintendo is... Bill O'reilly report.

An old video from a different time, that shows both what must be one of the first news stories on Nintendo ever, and what Inside Edition once was.

From Digg-This is an old clip of Inside Edition with an article about Nintendos big success in America. This video has it all. Its got Howard Phillips in an interview, and even has a Nintendo game counselor, who has been featured in early issues of Nintendo Powers Q&A section.

read more | digg story

Ubisoft releases no CD fix - stolen from piracy community

The stupidest thing I've ever seen a company do.

From Digg-Ubisoft recently released a no CD fix for R6Vegas. Great, right? Except that it's not their fix. It's from RELOADED, a piracy group, which breaks Ubisoft's own rules on piracy.

read more | digg story

Wii60 has been taken too serriously, or the new Xbox "Experience"

Hey,

I've been having a good first summer of the rest of my life. I graduated High School and waiting to start living on my own in college. My summer has been helped greatly by the great games that have come out so far in the summer for my 360. I've been chilling on Unreal Tournament 3, Battlefield Bad Company, DBZ: Burst Limit, as well as reliving a little bit of Halo 1 with Cold Storage (as flawed as it may be, but in the long run, H3 needed the small map).

Today was an exciting day, the official kick off of E3, gaming's big week. And on the first day the Microsoft Press Conference. And boy what a conference it was. Exclusive Fallout 3 DLC, Final Fantasy, Gears 2, even a little bit of Halo Wars love. But the big news, and the sad news, is the new Xbox Dashboard that will be jetting through the tubes this fall. A lot of people don't like the current Xbox Dash, but I've always found it to be intuitive. Sure, the XBLA List might take a little bit to load, and sometimes you have to look for something, but for the most part, your going to be playing retail games and surfing XBLM anyway, and those functions worked fine. The gamer pictures and themes made sense, the evoked a sense of Web 2.0 that made gamers feel comfortable. And no matter what Microsoft wants to think, the only thing that is stopping Playstation from crushing them again is the hardcore fanbase that play H3 and COD4 on XBL every day, the guys that hang on Major Nelson's every word, the guys that know about everything before you annouce it, the guys that made Halo the moneymaker it is today.

Instead of continuing to pander to this demo, with things like that final Back Compat update (still no Beyond Good and Evil?) Gamewide clan support (which was already proven with the hidden gem "Gang" feature in Saints Row) and a good E3 XBLA release like Castle Crashers, Duke Nukem Online, hell I'd take Halo themed Uno DLC, they have decided that the Wii is stealing too much gaming thunder. And they've decided that the PS3 isn't really down for the count. So they're big annoucements play like a list of ideas combined from both consoles.

• Lips=Singstar
• Avatars=Miis
• Xbox Primetime=Buzz (although I will be interested in the real prize aspect)
• New Dash=PS3 XMB
• Xbox Parties+Clothing Customization=Home Killer (and it hasn't even come out yet, bummer Sony)
• Movies Game=Eyetoy (from the PS2...)
• They also still can't dodge the rumor of a Wiimote killer in development
  

There were good things in the press conference. Installing games to the HDD was long overdue, and will help with a few of my scratched discs I imagine. Streaming Netflix movies off the console will be sick. And I'm mostly for the whole Gameshow/Big Chat idea, but why do we need the cutesy Mii ripoffs? Guys that have Xbox are gamers, not Wii Fanboys. We chat like they do on the PC, with mics and webcams. Why couldn't they have worked on multiple person Video Chat, or work it into the dash instead of running a completly different application that makes playing Uno the default mode for chatting? Why the focus on media, when Xbox was built on solid hardcore FPS/Racing gaming roots? Why try to attract kids to the console with the most bloody action games and shooters? Master Chief is the mascot, and he's not kid friendly.

It just kinda bummed me out that I spent money on some of the gamer pics and themes that will now be obsolete. Oh sure, they say you can keep your pic, but it will be shoved off to the side as more arcade games and the 8 person chat needs Avatars to function. All the themes I bought are a complete wash. I guess, in the end, I'll still be playing Halo Wars and Soul Calibur 4 on the same console. But maybe I'll decide to load to the disc instead of the dash.

-May you never pay for digital clothing
Pudge

Why Websense Won't Let You Read This Column at Work

Laugh out loud funny article! Enjoy

From Digg-The part about how you can still Google Image search 'adults fucking' probably isn't helping his case.

read more | digg story

A Day at the Ballpark, or Getting the Devil out of the Rays

Hey,

Today, in honor of Father's Day, My dad and I did something that we have done many times, go up to St. Pete and see the good old Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Sadly, a group of church goers and other "concerned citizens" thought the word Devil was horrible. Even though its named after a fish, even though it makes the team unique, and even though everyone calls them the Rays anyway, the new Rays management took Devil out of the title. They even changed the meaning of Rays from a Manta Rays (which would have been a better name) to Sun Rays. Yes, the sunshine state so they're rays of sun. Not sure how a Sun Ray would defeat an enemy, considering it's mostly an inanimate concept created by humans, but I digress. They will always be the Devil Rays to me.

With those thoughts in mind, my dad and I took our vouchers (not gonna say how I got them other than the word incompetence, as I want to continue to get them) up to the stand to get tickets. At the Trop (Tropicana Field), in order to get tickets, one must wait in a Disney labyrinth in order to actually get up to the ticket windows, where you are then divided up and told which window to go up to. Before this system was in place, with the old management, people divided themselves into lines, which doesn't seem like hard of a concept. But people complained that people were unfairly getting cut in line, ignoring the fact that they sounded like elementary school children, and so the current set-up was born.

Once you wait ten minutes on line to get your already paid for tickets (sigh...), you enter the Trop, and the Disney feelings continue. Walk to your right, and you get Center Field Street, a nicely themed bazaar of snack stands and an impressive cigar bar that has been there since the park opened. It's subtle and fun to go through. Once you get past it and into the seating area however, it starts to get a little strange. There are stands for trivia game shows, little kids drawing things, and a setup for getting to touch actual MLB baseballs and bats. These would be interesting if not for the fact that the team paid and constructed big stands for each of these exhibits that have nothing to do with baseball, and as the years go on they seem to get more gaudy.

But thats not all! In addition to useless activities, they set up a Mountain Dew sponsored EXTREME game room. So you can play MLB video games in a baseball stadium during a real life baseball game. This brings backs haunting memories of Farenheit 451. I am a gamer, but I would never accept a virtual substitute for something that is actually offered in the flesh. Thats like buying a bootleg version of Pokemon when Pokemon Diamond is staring at you in the same case, its ridiculous.

Other amazing amenities include weird themed lamp posts with the mascot Raymond's disembodied hands as posts. When you have to go to the john, your are greeted with wall length plasma screens that not only ruin baseball games for people watching on TiVo (My dad caught that the Yanks were winning 3-0, making his surprise less) but also run mini versions of Access Hollywood, as if that needed more exposure.

I have spent my entire childhood going to that stadium. I went to the second ever game played there, back when it was called the Ice Palace and hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. I went to at least one game of every season since then, and I have never felt more uncomfortable than I have today. My dad said it great when we were talking, he said it's almost as if the management want you to be a part of something, the new Rays experience, instead of just hanging out. It just all seems so corporate. Everyone knows that Baseball is the most passive sport ever created, and watching it should be just as such. You shouldn't have to be included in the festivities, you should just cheer for your team. And my team is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

May you always passively fight the man instead of getting involved
-Pudge

Sessler's Soapbox is Tired of the Bigots on Xbox Live

Hey,

I used to have a lot of respect for this man and Extended Play. Then it became a crappy show called X-Play. Later still, it has lost all semi balance of form by getting rid of reviews. I may not respect him anymore, but sometimes the old Sessler comes out and plays.

From Digg- For this week’s Sessler’s Soapbox, Adam Sessler brings up an issue that’s old, but still unfortunately valid. That is, he, like many people, is fed up with the amount of racist and homophobic talk on Xbox Live. As he points out, the situation is just getting uglier all the time.
read more | digg story

Vince McMahon gets Rick Rolled

Hey,



This is just so surreal. You have to enjoy wrestling to enjoy it, but it's still hilarious. I just had to post this up here, if only to remember the insanity. Also cause I have insomnia.

-Pudge

The 5 Most Unintentionally Hilarious Comic Strips

Hey,

I've had a grand old stomach flu that has taken me out of action as of late, even delaying shipment of some random cards to some random EBayer in the UK. Hoping to get my brain back into gear with this random blog post about random funny comic strips. Enjoy!

From Digg-One word: Aldo-mania
read more | digg story

What was his name again?

Just go here

http://www.vgcats.com/super/?strip_id=1

You'll be glad you did

-Pudge

Marvel at the magnificent man known as Lance Winslow

This guy puts Chuck Norris to shame...

From Digg-I had a friend show me this 'about us' a couple of months ago while looking for a different foundation of a similar name. I have no idea if it is legit, but its a hell of an interesting read. The longer you read, the better it gets.
read more | digg story

Pretty Odd Minutes to your Paycheck, or Why two of my favorite bands suck

Hey,

Well, My last year of high school is winding down. That's right, I'll be off to live alone with much more free time. Maybe that means more time for posts like this one and less Digg posts. Who knows and who cares. All I know is that I've got a paper due on Monday, so it's time to stall myself as I am prone to do. So, I'll write up another one of the many posts festering up in my head.

You may have heard it on the radio, but Linkin Park came out with a new album a little while ago. I got it when it came out, as Linkin Park is one of the few bands that I would monetarily support. They sound different, and their music has always been a soundtrack to my life. Always until I popped "Minutes to Midnight" into my computer to start the ITunes transfer. I was flabbergasted. What was this bullshit. There were songs with no rapping. There were barely any Mr. Hahn sounds. Every other song was a ballad. BALLADS. FROM LINKIN FUCKING PARK.

I looked in the booklet and regret it to this day. The band that had first introduced a young mind to metal guitars and good music looked like a hippie Good Charlotte. There was a guy with an afro. I knew what was going on, although it took me many months to accept it. They sold out to the studios. This music wasn't Linkin Park music, it was Lincoln Park music. It was appealing to a much wider demographic, it had basic guitars instead of techno sounds, and the girls sure do love their ballads don't they. There is nothing they could do at this point to regain me and many others like me as fans. Anything they do now is dead to me, and it makes me sick.

What finally pushed this post through my fingers onto the keyboard was another bands very recent album, Panic! at the Disco's "Pretty. Odd." (That exclamation point IS a part of your name GOD damn it). After a very successful debut album which almost sounded like a pop version of a System of a Down album, they have turned in a generic "classic rock inspired" waste of space. I couldn't even get through the album. I guess the success got to their heads, but I wish it could have waited for at least one more album, as I really liked their first effort.

Why is it so hard to give music fans what they want. A good band IMO is a band that can turn in an album that is different enough from their previous work while still being in the same genre (at the very least). One good example is another favorite band of mine, Disturbed. Disturbed has made three very good albums, all hard rock, but each with their own flavor, and as the listener, I appreciate that. Both Lincoln Park and Panic! have failed this horribly, one band because they have given up their artistic ideals and one band because they let super stardom blind them to their purpose. And it's a damn shame.

One last factoid, Lincoln Park recorded fifty to sixty songs in their attempt to pump out Minutes to Midnight. I wont be surprised at some quick new albums coming from them in the next few years with that material, as they are a business now, and you can't waste good product just because it was made a few years ago.

-May your band of choice rock on with their integrity intact
Pudge
----------------
Now playing: Creed - My Own Prison
via FoxyTunes

The Daily Show - Gaffe-In

A good video for anyone intersted in our country come next year.

From Digg-The economy didn't make Western PA cling to God and guns -- those are the foundations of Western PA. Jon Stewart lays it into the MSM for their actions over "Bitter-gate" and responds directly to their claims that Barack Obama is "elitist". The last third of the video is the best.

read more | digg story

Hilary Clinton to appear on Colbert Report

Hey,
Prepare for a great interview, as Hilary is going for the same thing that Bill got from Arsenio way back when. This will hurt Obama if he can't get on the show as well, just you watch.

From Digg-Hillary Clinton is hoping the “Colbert bump” will help propel her to victory in Pennsylvania.

read more | digg story

Tay Zonday goes for a Rick Roll

Prepare for meme fusion unlike anything you've seen before. Especially after last weeks South Park. Enjoy!

From Digg-Never gonna give Tay up

read more | digg story

Geek Squad Soaks Your Computer, Blames You

Here's the kind of story that should be posted on the Internet more often. Who in their right mind would trust a department store with their computer anyway?

From Digg-Still think using Geek Squad to repair your computer isn't such a bad idea? That's what reader Nicole thought when she took her laptop in for a warranty covered repair. The laptop was sent off to a service center, "repaired", then sent back. She immediately noticed it had the same exact problem and sent it back 48 hours later...

read more | digg story

Filming of Unfilmable "Atlas Shrugged" Going Forward

Hey,

Here's an example of Hollywood trying to do the impossible, and inevitably failing. Enjoy!

From Digg-Despite the talk and the buzz, I never thought it would actually happen. If any novel merits the term "unfilmable," certainly Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is it.

read more | digg story

Gears Of War 2 Details Revealed

Hey,

Here ya go guys. Details on the next Xbox Hype Machine! Go to Gamestop and PreOrder today!!

From Digg-Great news, the cover story Game Informer is Gears of War 2 and we have some new details from the game thanks to a member of the NeoGaF Forums.

read more | digg story

Not Just Lag: How Nintendo Fumbled Online Play

Here's my second and last for this night. This is a good read and perfectly reflects my opinions about why my copy of Brawl is almost to the point of collecting dust at home. (The Halo 3 MLG Playlist did just come out after all, and if there's one thing that will get me playing Halo again, it's MLG gametypes.)

From Digg-There’s at least one area of gaming Nintendo just doesn’t get, and it’s online play. We analyze how Nintendo has failed in taking its games online in this critical editorial.

read more | digg story

David Letterman Plagiarizes Himself

Hey,

I figured that since I'm lazy, and since Digg has such a nice feature that blogs thing for you, I would start adding some things I find interesting here, if only to spread the news. It's good to be active!

Here's the first one and it has to be seen to believe.

From Digg-
This amazing video clip shows David Letterman repeating FOUR jokes from his April 2 monologue ... on April 3!

read more | digg story

Paradise? I don't think so, Or The death of the best driving franchise as we know it

Hey,

I have been awoken from my legendary lurker status to comment on a little XBL demo I sampled just 24 hours ago. I am also very angry at things lately, like Spider Man: One More Day/Brand New Day completely raping the Spider-Man comics of anything enjoyable and then shoving 3 issues a month down our throats on top of it. I'm not going to get into that right now though, as my opinion is lost among a sea of fanboys agreeing with me, and really, you don't need another reason to hate that storyline. What I'm going to post about today is something in a similar vein to Spidey's current disaster, but the opinion has swayed in a different direction, generally either for the change, or simply not caring. I talk of course (and if you guessed from the title, +1 cookie for you) of Burnout Paradise, the new "arcade" racer from EA and Criterion.

For the uneducated, the Burnout series started out rather uneventfully on the PS2 as an above average racer with awesome crashes, but little else to get people off Need For Speed/Twisted Metal/(insert your fave arcade racer here!) and take notice. Burnout 2 improved on the racing formula found in the first game, and added on an immensely fun mode called "Crash Mode" The goal of this mode was to slam into traffic in such a way as to cause the most damage. There were the straightforward slams into intersections, and the more strategic multilayer mountain roads where the high scores could only be achieved by pushing a bus down to the high way below as you crashed. And did I mention that near the end of a successful crash, as the few remaining cars try to sneak by, you can blow up your car with a "Crashbreaker" for one last chance at points. Crash Mode quickly became a fan favorite and a staple of the series.

Burnout 3: Takedown was the first multiplatform Burnout title (EA bought Criterion out after 2 and shoved it on the other consoles) and as such, a jumping on point for most current Burnout fans. (Including yours truly) It is hailed as the best of the series then and now and with good reason. The game was the perfect pick-up-and-play game, with the World Tour throwing quick and addictive events at you at a breakneck pace. Added in was Road Rage, a mode where you have to make the most opponents crash before they total your car. Crash Mode had Power-Ups like 2x score multipliers and extra Crashbreakers placed on the track in such a fashion as to make combos where whole interstates were filled with carnage. The only bad thing about the game was an annoying DJ announcer that you could thankfully mute. It was truly a legendary title, and I could go on forever about it given the time.

Burnout Revenge was the fourth edition of the series. It was almost a straight sequel to Burnout 3, with only a few differences. The crash mode was made less player friendly than in Burnout 3 (I remember hearing talk about a golf meter for boost in the PS2 and Xbox versions, but I played the 360 edition of the game, where they fixed that little flaw) Traffic Checking was added, allowing you to launch pedestrian vehicles by rear ending them, basically using them as weapons to take out opponents. The game still retained the arcade-style World Tour mode with pick-up-and-play events that you could burn through (stop it Pudge...) whenever you felt like it.
It was a workable sequel, and enjoyable to play.

I was expecting a lot when I picked up my controller for the Paradise demo. I had heard much about it, but I was saving my judgments for the game itself. It died in my hands. I could feel the disappointment bursting from me as I discovered each new feature.

• The entire game is now a sandbox game like GTA and Saint's Row. Instead of a series of events like the World Tour mode, we get events triggered through hitting a button when you pass through an intersection. All well and good, until you fail the event, and realize that you have to backtrack to the same intersection to try again. Criterion said that this was to take out load times. I'd rather spend 30 seconds watching a still image than spend 5 minutes getting back to the start of the race.
  
• Crash Mode has been replaced with "Showtime Mode" in where whenever you get into a wreck with other cars involved, you can activate Showtime Mode and try to make the most damage possible as you bounce from car to car. While this might be fun, it takes out all the fun and strategy of knowing Crash levels and playing your friends online, as every crash is different.
• Speaking of Online, that's screwed up too, as Online is just getting into a city with more than one player and driving around. That's it. You can play events with others, but without any kind of structure, no one will want to race. Everyone will just want to ram each other until their bored. Considering that Takedown and Revenge had good online communities where you could always find a game, it's a shame that the online mode is so short cited in this edition.
• Several of the cool features introduced in previous Burnout games (off the top of my head, Traffic Check, Aftertouch [which was controlling your car in bullet time after a wreck to get opponents, but since everything is real time you can't do that anymore], and true Burnouts [using all your boost in one shot]) are nowhere to be found in this sequel.
• Oh, and the DJ's back, this time without a mute button...
  

All this takes away from Burnouts roots as a pure arcade game that wouldn't look out of place next to Smashing Drive and Crazy Taxi. Instead, it's some "Evolved Burnout" some Next Gen Wonder. Well here's one fan that will stick to Takedown and Revenge until you guys decide to get your act together and release a proper Burnout game. I'm not gonna be force fed garbage just because it has a recognizable name on it. That's why I don't own Halo 2 anymore.

May DJ Atommika be shot
-Pudge