We Can Solve It

We Can Solve It

Al Gore on 60 Minutes

For anyone that missed it 60 Minutes did a story on Al Gore last Sunday. I especially enjoy Gore's reaction to the current Vice President's beliefs on global warming at the 10:56 point. Enjoy!

Lyndon Baines Johnson

"I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president..."

Johnson uttered these words in a televised speech forty years ago tonight. How unfortunate that his legacy has been so severely tarnished (rightly so) by the escalation of the Vietnam War under his tenure as President. Let us not forget some of the good that came durning his Presidency: the "Great Society", the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the apppointment of Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court, the first African-American to be appointed to the high court, to name a few.

Click here to read more about LBJ.

How many could you take?

23

Dance Dance Revolution

Somehow Frank managed to talk me into buying Dance Dance Revolution today for the Wii. He's got until Mario Kart Wii is released (April 27th) to get it out of his system.


The collection, this and last generation.

How sweet this would be...

Click here for the story.

With Obama weakening and Clinton going off the deep end could Gore be the party's savior? Highly doubtful but one can dream...

Have I mentioned how much I love Al Gore?

Air New Zealand Pink Flight

"Quotes"

"If Tyrrany and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."

"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home."

-James Madison, 4th President (1809-1817)


"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

-Ben Franklin, founding father 1755


"It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government."

-Alexander Hamilton, father of capitalism and my favorite gay founding father

Smash Brothers!

A week from tomorrow Super Smash Brothers Brawl will be hitting the shelves for the Nintendo Wii. Here's a funny commercial for the original Smash Brothers game for the Nintendo 64.

Estoy Aqui

Nintendo Wii in 2008 Part 3: Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii is listed as a Q2 release but considering the limited amount of information on the game I wouldn't expect to see a release this spring. Most likely Nintendo will unveil more information on the game at this years E3 conference and move the game to a fall release just in time to cash in on the holidays.

Mario Kart games are simple. Race to the finish line on a variety of tracks against multiple Nintendo mascot opponents using an arsenal of weapons such as banana peels, heat seeking shells, and blocks. Choose from a multitude of racers with varying skill sets including weight, acceleration, and top speed. Player modes have included circuit racing, time trials, battle modes, and split screen multiplayer racing. The game has appeared on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), the Nintendo 64, the Nintendo GameBoy Advance, the Nintendo GameCube, and most recently the Nintendo DS sporting a great online multiplayer feature.

Rumor has it that the latest entry in the Kart series will go back to its roots featuring one racer per kart (Mario Kart: Double Dash for the Nintendo GameCube offered two racers per kart giving the gamer the ability to switch between racers depending on the situation). Also rumored is the return of the power slide ability for advanced racers (a must for time trials) and an online multiplayer option that will allow you to race with up to 12 people from all over the world all at one time. Finally the game is to be packed with a steering wheel accessory that will cradle the Nintendo Wiimote for a more immersive game play experience (I think I'll stick with a more traditional approach with the game using a standard controller). See the video below for an explanation of the steering wheel accessory.

Reggie Fils-Aime's Comments on Mario Kart Wii



Mario Kart 64 is one of my favorite games of any generation and I'll be in line to try out Nintendo's latest Kart offering later this year.

Nintendo Wii in 2008 Part 2: Wii Fit

One of the next big releases projected in 2008 is Wii Fit. The game is still listed as TBA 2008 but I would expect a release earlier in the year rather than later. The release in Japan in Decemeber has already yeilded over a million units sold. So what is Wii Fit? Again I refer to our friends at IGN:

"The hit combination of Wii Sports and the Wii Remote brought golf swings and tennis serves into people’s homes. Now Nintendo turns the living room into a fitness center for the whole family with Wii Fit and the Wii Balance Board. Family members will have fun getting a "core" workout, and talking about and comparing their results and progress on a new channel on the Wii Menu.

Lean to block soccer balls, swivel hips to power hoop twirls or balance to hold the perfect yoga pose. As users stand on the Wii Balance Board, included with Wii Fit, their body’s overall balance is tied to the game in a way they’ve never experienced before. Wii Fit also uses the Wii Balance Board for daily tests. These evaluate two key measures that a household can track via progress charts."

Sounds a bit bizarre huh? Those crazy Japanese!

Wii Fit Trailer


Will this kind of "gaming" go over here as well as it has in the land of the rising sun? I would be willing to bet that indeed it will given Nintendo's track record of reaching out to and capturing casuel gamers over the last year. Will this be a game and peripheral that I would purchase? Unsure; however, the prospect of leaning left and right on the Wii Balance Board heading down the ski slopes sounds promising.

Nintendo Wii in 2008 Part 1: SSB Brawl

Similar to what I did before the release of the Nintendo Wii last year I want to take a look ahead to the games of 2008. 2008 promises to be another banner "sold out" year for the Wii. It's hard to imagine that a new year can top the offerings of last with the likes of a Zelda game, a Metroid game, and a Mario game, not to mention countless other titles! We'll be discussing the projected major releases through the year in each post. First up, Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Of course we have to start with what will be a monster release slated for March 9th. The third installment in the Smash Brothers series looks to be the biggest and best yet. If you're not familiar with the series it's basically a fighting game with a "king of the hill" mentality. Stay alive and deal as much punishment to your opponents to survive the round. Here's what IGN has to say about the title: "Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a brawling, battling, action-packed video game that features a varied roster of characters for four-player simultaneous melees! This Wii entry in the popular series features a number of new additions, including an Adventure Mode (with co-op play), a wealth of new characters and stages, and online combat for multiple players to face off against each other from anywhere!" So be prepared to round up some friends at home or online and duke it out using a completely customizable control scheme for your Wiimote, GameCube remote, or Wii classic controller.

You can brawl your way to victory with a wide assortment of Nintendo mascots including old favorites like Mario, Link, and Fox McCloud, as well as newly added brawlers like Pit from Kid Icarus who hasn't graced a Nintendo game in 15 years. What may be more exciting about the line up is the addition of characters not held by Nintendo, namely Solid Snake from the Metal Gear franchise and Sonic from the Sonic the Headgehog franchise.

The title has already released to long lines in Japan with an amazing sale through rate. The same should hold true here in the states where previous installments sold tremendously totaling over 10 million copies on the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo GameCube.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl Japanese Opening Cinematic



Super Smash Brothers Brawl Japanese Game Play



More information can be found here on the Wii Brawl page or here at the Smash Bros. Dojo.

Al Gore's The Man

Click here to see why.

The GOP Needs a New Message

I used to be a political junkie. I remember when Clinton (Bill) was running for President in '91. I'd tune in to all the political shows every night before bed, especially CNN and C-SPAN. I couldn't get enough of the news from the campaign trail, debates, speeches, you name it. Maybe it was the excitement of my first Presidential vote or my naivety in thinking one person could change the country but I couldn't get enough of politics! I continued to follow politics throughout the years even during some (for me) very depressing times: the Contract with America, the Gore defeat of 2000, the re-election of GW Bush. This year I find myself not giving two shakes of a dead rats ass about the process. I'm probably not informed as I used to be simply because I don't have cable. The news I get now is what I can catch at my parents house, online, or from the Daily Fish Wrap (The Daily Oklahoman). I guess what drove home my increased apathy for our political process was the recent GOP debate in Florida. It's been years since I watched a Presidential debate either Republican or Democrat (and I couldn't stomach to watch all of it). What I watched could've been viewed during the '88 election, the '92 election or any other year! We need change. Change? Really? The party who controlled the White House and Congress for most of the last 16 years wants change? Um OK, whatever... a new direction or leadership from conservatives, I guess I can swallow that even if their 71 year old front runner isn't very fresh. What really irked me was the same old rhetoric I'd heard from years before! We need tax cuts. Tax cuts for the middle class, tax cuts for small business, tax cuts across the board! Wow. And the other side? Tax and spend liberals. Tax and spend liberals. Tax and spend liberals. I can't believe they're still beating this dead horse of an argument. Of course other issues were discussed but it always made its way back to tax cuts and staying the course with the war. I can't believe anyone would have the balls to utter the words "sustain the war" and "tax cuts" in the same breath. They're getting away with it! This is the only time in American history where we've lowered taxes while we're waging war! I'm all for lowering taxes (really, who isn't) but isn't a war a time for a country to sacrifice? To pull together and get the job done no matter the costs? Perhaps if the new Democratic Congress had kept their promise to start bringing troops home we could afford to spread a little money around. Ah well that's a blog for another day. I'll hold my nose and vote on Super Tuesday but I think I'll ignore the coverage until then. What do you think?

Shiny Toy Guns

I saw this performance in December with Crystal and Lindsey as well as others... man I really miss hanging with those girls!

Oh L'amour

BLEH!

So fucking bored! My schedule of late has me closing a lot of shifts. When I get off work there's absolutely NOTHING to do. I got off work after the Saturday night shift at 2:30 in the morning. Anyone out there have any suggestions on late night entertainment? My routine as of late is to flop down at the computer, listen to some tunes, and drink a couple of beers... livin' the dream!



Maybe I should go back to serving/bartending; less hours and more money. The picture is from Mother's day last year (2006). I had a five alarm hang over while working the "busiest" day of the year! Eww it appears as though dad is drinking Beringer's White Zin... America's number one wine. What does this tell us about ourselves (as Americans)?

Be Yourself, Don't Hide

Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence
If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny
Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence

RIP Jake

I got word from Doug that Jake passed away on the 6th of June. For those who don't know, Jake was the bassett hound we had a lifetime ago when we lived together in Enid and eventually in Edmond and Oklahoma City. While living in Enid we were visiting Oklahoma City and made the impulse purchase of Jake at a local pet store (not too long after the untimely demise of Sam I, our first beagle). He was a tri-colored basset hound (mostly black and white) with giant feet and ears that hung well to the ground. Not 24 hours after getting him home he became deathly ill and had to spend a couple days with the vet (puppy mill fever I think). After that the grumpy turd went on to live more than a decade! I'm not sure what makes me more sad, Jake's demise or the fact that my world and everything in it has changes so much in the last few years. Anyhoo Jake was a good dog that I loved as much as anything in this world and I'm terribly saddened by the news and maybe more saddened that I didn't take the time to see him the last couple of years (he stayed with Doug since I didn't have a place for him living in an apartment). From what Doug tells me Sam II the beagle (Jake's buddy and nemesis) continues to do well in his aging years. I really need to pay him a visit...