Sunday, November 25, 2012

Letter Grades For Linkin Park's 5 Albums

Just felt the need to do this. Short and sweet. Here they are:

Hybrid Theory (2000) - A : The start of something great.
Meteora (2003) - A+ : My favorite album of all time. Period.
Minutes to Midnight (2007) - B+ : Departure from classic sound, but still solid.
A Thousand Suns (2010) - F : No matter how hard I try, I cannot forget that this exists.
Living Things (2012) - B- : Rebound.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

I Wonder: Zombie Apocalypse Edition

Who would be the first to die, or un-die, during a zombie apocalypse? I mean, literally the first person. Hopefully, not me.

I Wonder: Who Invented Cupcakes?

Seriously, whoever came up with cupcakes must have been a genius. And normal cakes for that matter. Pancakes, short cakes, ice cream cakes. On a regular basis I find myself amazed that anyone came up with anything that people eat that actually needs to be prepared in some way-I couldn't do it.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Follow Up: Leonard Johnson

Back in April, I was clamoring for someone to draft former Iowa Stater cornerback, Leonard Johnson. No one did. However, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did sign him as an undrafted free agent. Ultimately, he got through training camp with a roster spot and has made some contributions to the team.

He isn't lighting it up (yet), but he has helped and he has even found himself a job as a starter. Through nine games, Johnson has three interceptions. That is more than what many starting defensive backs have. One of those was even returned 83 yards for a touchdown in the teams 34-24 win over the Chargers.

I'd say that I'm looking pretty good.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Selfish Plug

I'm not often one to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty awesome (obviously, modesty is my middle name). In the name of advertising myself, here are three gaming pieces that I've written recently that may be of interest to someone other than myself:

Borderlands 2 is amazing, but it does have one glaring problem.

Games steal from other games, but sometimes they forget to grab the simple things.

Like people, game franchises die. People should accept that.

Enjoy . . . or don't, it's up to you.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

I Wish: World Peace Existed

What? I'm not all bad.

I Wish: More Game Developers Were Mac Friendly

Most computer games choose PC's and I understand that. Many of them also tell us Mac owners that if we were interested in games, we never should have gotten a Mac in the first place. Why?

My Xbox 360's primary function is to play video games. While it can do more than that, that is what it is made for. My laptop was not made to play video games.

I'm a student and I do not claim to be much of a computer person. I know more about the ins and outs of computers than my parents, but less than most of my friends. What I do know is that I enjoy my Mac for everything besides gaming and the only reason why it falls short in that arena is because the vast majority of the games I'd like to play are PC only. I must commend Blizzard because all of their current games (Starcraft II, Diablo III, and World of Warcraft) are playable on Mac's.

I am not the only sad gamer wishing that games like Total War: Shogun 2 were playable on my computer. It doesn't take that much more time or money to make this happen and sales will go up. Are developers just lazy? Do us Mac gamers need to speak up more? What is the answer? Just tell me and I will do whatever (little) that I can to attempt to solve this issue.

Until then, I'll keep reading about all of the games that I can play until one lone tears forms in the corner of my eye. At that point I'll distract myself by playing something that is actually at my disposal.

Another Brilliant Idea: Limit Political Campaign Spending

Political campaigns, especially presidential ones, spend an absurd amount of money in an attempt to get their candidate into office. I want this to stop.

Political offices are essentially bought. The candidate that spends the most tends to get the most publicity and in turn, the most votes. There are limits as to how much individuals can contribute to campaigns now, so campaigns now need to work harder to get more people to donate money, but I want to take things further.

Right now, our global economy remains in the gutter. We live in a world where children are starving, wars are raging, Honey Boo Boo exists, and instead of remedying these catastrophes, money is spent on smear ads that don't seem to ever go away (please make it stop). Apparently, all American politicians were never told the ole "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all" from their parents.

By limiting spending, all campaigns are forced to become smarter and more creative. Those with the best brains instead of those with the best pockets will win.

Am I alone in this train of thought?

P.S. Go vote.